The Cost of Secrets
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: Secrets are hard to keep. Unfortunately, some people have more than most.
1. Chapter 1

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by these rights should be assumed to be purely the creation of the author.

**Rating:** T May be some mildly adult themes.

**A/N: ** A second Megaforce fic. I'm not diving into the new season yet, it isn't airing here, and episodes are hard to come by, so expect chapters/stories to be episodic. Hope you enjoy it.

Gia came into Ernie's Brainfreeze, finding Emma already sitting, doing some homework. The Pink Ranger always spent most of her time studying either in the school, or at the ice-cream bar. Gia knew that Emma's parents worked long hours, and were constantly on different shift patterns. She didn't really like being at home alone, finding it too quiet, and so she usually only went home at the end of each night to get ready for the following school day.

Gia came across, finding herself smiling as she saw her. She took a seat opposite her, putting her backpack down.

"You're not starting without me are you?" Gia asked her playfully. "You know that Japanese is my worst subject."

"Yeah, you'd get a B+ instead of an A, that would be tragic." Emma teased her with a little smile, brushing some hair behind her ear. Gia couldn't help staring at her for a moment. Emma had been her best friend since they were in kindergarten, but over time Gia noticed something about their friendship changing. She started noticing a lot about Emma that she wasn't sure she should. Emma just looked back at her. "Um...what?"

"You...you did something different with your hair didn't you?" Gia asked her.

"I got a new shampoo, extract of coconut." Emma replied with a shrug. "Why?"

"It...It's nice." Gia told her. "You'll have to tell me where you got it."

Just then, a black rucksack landed by Gia's chair. The Yellow Ranger just rolled her eyes as she saw it. A moment later, Noah plomped himself down on the couch next to Emma. If he was there, then it was only a matter of time before...

"Hey there ladies." Jake announced as he arrived, placing a hand on Gia's shoulder. "I just got paid, how about a round of smoothies on me?"

"Make mine a raspberry." Emma told him.

"Orange." Noah announced. "You know, I think I'll help you with that."

As they left, Gia felt her heart start beating again. She liked the guys, or at very least, she trusted them. She knew that now they were Rangers, now that they had a duty to protect the world, they all had each others' backs. If she was honest, before the Gosei abduction thing, she wouldn't have been able to pick Noah out of a line-up, and Jake...she only knew him as some kind of jock that half the school thought was a God just because he could kick a ball into a net. She still didn't really see what the big deal was, it was basic physics. With enough time to prepare, she had every confidence she could do what Jake could on the field.

Still, since then, they'd all started to hang out more. A LOT more. Noah and Jake were pretty much everywhere she looked now, and she couldn't get away from them. She was dimly aware for a while that Jake liked her, but that wasn't exactly new to her. Half the guys in school wanted her just because she was the Golden Fleece, the unobtainable goal. She was the hottest girl in school, and yet no-one was with her. It was why she turned down about four offers a day, and had been suspended for a week two years previously when one guy that didn't take no for an answer ended up singing a few octaves higher.

"Seriously?" Gia asked her. "You invited the chuckle brothers?"

"They kind of invited themselves." Emma told her. "Besides, they're not that bad."

"Not that bad?" Gia asked her. Seriously, Jake's only about half a step away from presenting his tail feathers!"

"Huh?" Emma asked her.

"You know, like a peacock?" She asked. "God, why won't he just get the message?"

"Maybe he needs it to be spelled out for him?" Emma suggested. "Besides, what's the big deal? He's cute, he's a good guy. What's the worst that could happ..."

"I am NOT dating Jake, even as a sympathy date!" Gia put down abruptly. She noticed Emma's reaction to that, and felt her heart skipping a few beats. She knew how she felt, she knew why she held her breath for a moment any time she saw Emma, but she was always afraid around her. She didn't want to risk Emma finding out how she felt about her. She didn't want her to turn away, to lose the one person in the world she'd trust with anything because of her own stupid emotions. She just shook her head. "Look, I'm not into him, and I never will be. Trust me on that."

"OK, message received loud and clear." Emma stated. "I guess you haven't said that to Jake though."

"When I have to trust the guy to partner up with me in the battlefield?" Gia asked her. "For God's sake Emma, when we form up the Megazord, I have to trust him to be careful when his Zord shoves its tail up my Zord's ass! At 80 miles an hour! Of course I haven't told him!"

"Alright, alright just...keep your hair on." Emma told her. "They said they wanted to study, and I thought that maybe we could help them out."

Gia just groaned and slumped down in her chair. An afternoon with Jake throwing cheesy come-on lines at her while Noah ended up in yet ANOTHER debate with Emma about the value of technology over nature did not sound like a fun afternoon. Not that she had any interest in the guy, but she thought that finding Troy and training with him was sounding like a good option right now. Even the guy that barely spoke to anyone sounded like more fun than hanging out with the snake guy.

"Fine." Gia groaned.

"Alright, just...watch my books for a second." Emma told her, getting up. "I have to go."

Gia watched Emma leave, and found her heart racing yet again. Emma had always been a tomboy, often besting all the guys on the BMX courses. It was only the fact she wore too much pink, and spent too much time telling them off for throwing their drinks cans anywhere BUT the recycling bins that stopped her being part of that crowd. Still, it had a marked effect on her body. There was a part of Gia that really wished she wouldn't wear those tight, short, pink jean shorts she had a habit of wearing, but there was also a part of her that was thankful any time that she did.

She pulled out her tablet, and started writing some stuff down. She kept a journal, something she'd done since she was a little girl, and she told it everything. She knew there were some things she'd never be able to say aloud, so she treated it as something that would never judge her, never leave her. She chewed her lip nervously as she typed in her thoughts. It was only as a shadow blocked the light on the screen that she locked the tablet and turned to see who had arrived, expecting Jake or Noah. Instead, it was...well...she didn't really know who he was.

"Hey Gia." He began. "I noticed you..."

"I'm kind of in the middle of something." Gia told him. "Um...sorry, who are you again?"

"Dean." He introduced himself, pointing to his name embroidered into his letterman jacket. "Dean Stockwell."

"Dean?" She asked. "As in the basketball player?"

"Baseball." He corrected her with a chuckle. Despite being the Queen of the school, Gia really didn't spend much time on extra-curricular activities. She'd heard his name, but clearly had no idea who he was.

Dean wasn't a bad looking guy, she had to admit that. He was a little taller than her, and was a pretty big kid, with shoulders that looked like he could hit a home-run with a wrecking ball. He was wearing a Harwood Letterman jacket and black jeans. He ran his hand through his thick, black hair.

"Listen, if you're busy now, we can always do something this weekend..."

"I'm busy then too." Gia told him. "Look, with all due respect, I'm flattered, but..."

"You're blowing me off?" He asked her. "You're blowing ME off? Do you know how many girls in the school would kill to get a date with me?"

"Well, how about you ask one of them then?" Gia said rather coldly. Dean placed a hand on her shoulder, which Gia just glared at.

"You're the hottest girl in school." He told her. "I'm the hottest guy. It's natural..."

"Get your hand off me." Gia warned him.

"I'll do whatever..."

"I said; get your hand off me!" Gia reiterated. "Otherwise, I'll break something, and believe me, it WILL be something you'll miss."

Just then, her morpher bleeped. Gia was almost relieved to hear the bleep. Although it meant the city was under attack, it also called an abrupt end to the whole scene. Jake, Noah and Emma all appeared.

"Gia, we..."

"Yeah, I know." Gia told them as they hurriedly collected their belongings. "See you around Dean."

With that, she snatched up her backpack, but failed to notice as her tablet fell out, sliding across the floor. Dean saw it and picked it up, beginning to go after her, but before he knew it, Gia had disappeared. He was about to hand it in to Ernie, to keep behind the counter when a thought occurred to him. This was Gia's tablet. She was always typing up something on it. She had turned him down when any other girl in the school would have had a heart attack if he asked them out. Maybe there was something in there that would give him some idea what she was into, give him some idea what to say or do to get lucky with her.

He sat down, and cursed his luck as he saw that it was locked. He tried Gia's name, but that didn't work. He knew she wore a lot of Yellow, so he tried that...still no luck.

"Ernie, can I get an energy shake?" He asked. "I've got some work to do."

The following day, Emma was collecting her books when Gia came to her locker, frightening her. The Yellow Ranger's lighting-fast reactions allowed her to catch the books Emma had dropped yet again.

"You're such a klutz." Gia commented, handing Emma her books. She saw how Emma accepted them gratefully. "It's pretty adorable."

"Well, I'm glad you think so." Emma muttered. "Anyway, where did you disappear to after the battle?"

"I lost my tablet." Gia told her. "I had it at Ernie's but I couldn't find it after the battle."

"You probably left it at Ernie's." Emma suggested. Gia just glared at her.

"Don't you think I thought of that?" Gia asked her. "I went and asked, but no one handed it in! Since dad was laid off, there isn't much money to go around, my parents will freak!"

"You had insurance right?" Emma asked her. Gia just nodded. "Then what's the big deal?"

"All my files were on it!" Gia told her. "All my assignments and..."

"I'll help you get caught back up." Emma assured her, stroking her shoulder gently. Gia felt herself relax at her touch. When Emma touched her, when she looked at her, when she was around, she was willing to believe anything. Emma could convince her of anything. When she was around, the whole world just seemed to make sense, and it felt like everything would be alright. If Emma said so, she just felt in her heart that everything would be fine. "It sucks having to type all that stuff up again, but I'll get you there. You know I will."

"Thanks Emma." Gia answered as the Pink Ranger closed over her locker and headed for her first class. Gia just watched her go, finding herself breathless once again. She didn't even notice as someone came along behind her.

"I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her walking away." A male voice said in her ear. Gia pulled away, spinning around and finding Dean standing behind her. "Not as much as you though. You're definitely better."

"OK, that might work with some of the girls, but seriously, clear out." Gia snapped. "I have stuff to do..."

"Like talk about our date this weekend?" Dean asked her. Gia just let out a small laugh.

"What? Are you brain damaged?" She asked him. "I'm not into you! Can't you get that through your skull?"

"I really think you'll reconsider." He told her. "It's like I said, you're the hottest girl in school, and I'm the hottest guy. It's nature. We'll be the power couple of senior year."

"OK, how many times do I need to say, I'm not interested?" Gia asked him. Dean just took off his sunglasses and looked her in the eyes.

"I think you'll change your mind." He told her, pulling out her tablet. Her eyes widened as she saw it. "Recognise this?"

Gia snatched it off him; grateful to get it back, but Dean just continued to give her a cocky little grin.

"It took a while you know, to figure out the password?" He told her. "I tried your name, your favourite colour, everything I could think of...I'd never have guessed what it was until I got it. Emma?"

Gia felt her heart freezing as he said that. It was indeed her password. She just turned on him angrily.

"You've been through..."

"You know, you have a lot of interesting stuff on there." Dean interrupted her. "Stuff that is pretty...illuminating. I have to say, the pictures, the stuff you wrote in your journal...it's all pretty hot stuff."

"You read my journal?" She yelled. He just laughed.

"Yeah, and I can pretty much guess why your password is Emma." He told her. "Got to admit, I was surprised at first, but suddenly a lot of things started to make sense. A lot of the little things I've noticed about you just kind of fell into place."

Gia felt like she was going to be sick. She did write a lot of stuff in her journal, stuff she'd never intended anyone to ever see. Knowing that Dean had read it made her feel ill, knowing that now someone knew. She looked up to him.

"Now, what do you suppose would happen if people found out exactly how 'adorable' you find it when Emma gets all klutzy when she's nervous?" He asked her. "What do you think would happen to all those girls that look up to you, who envy you if they knew exactly what you think about when you see her in those little shorts she's so fond of?"

Gia was frozen to the spot as he came around behind her. He made a little explosion sound as he put an arm around her.

"Little Ms. Perfect, the smartest girl in school, the one every girl wants to be...all gone in a second once they realise you're nothing more than a closeted, little..."

"Alright Dean, that's enough!" Gia roared as she spun around ramming him against the lockers. She held a hand to his throat.

"I'd reconsider if I were you." He said calmly. "After all, your tablet was such interesting reading; I just HAD to copy it to a flash drive."

"You...you did what?" Gia asked, her lip quivering in terror as she realised what he had said. He had a copy of everything she had written in her tablet. All her deepest, most intimate thoughts, things she didn't even share with Emma. As tears came to her eyes, and she backed away, he just smirked and came over to her.

"Like I said, you're the hottest girl in school. Being with you...well...that'll make my stock that much higher." He told her. "So, are you still busy this weekend, or do I post everything on that flash drive on the Harwood Social Hub site that nerdy little friend of yours set up?"

Gia couldn't control her tears. This was a nightmare come true for her. She knew how she felt, and she had accepted what she was when she was 13, but that didn't mean others would do the same. Emma, her best friend, had no idea that she wanted more from her. All the girls that wished to see her fall; just because she was Ms. Perfect would have a field day if it was revealed that she wasn't normal. Her friends...they'd only become her friends recently. They were friends with who they THOUGHT she was. How could she take the chance that they would turn her away, that they would refuse to trust her once they realised that she had lied to them all along about who she was?

"I'll take that as a yes." Dean said coldly as he brushed past her. "Saturday at 8. Meet me at the food court in the mall. There's a great movie I want to see."

As he left, Gia fell back against the lockers, her strength leaving her, and wept. Dean now held his finger over the detonator that would cause her whole life to self-destruct, and there was nothing she could do about it. All she could do was go along with it, and hope he kept up his end of the bargain.


	2. The Argument

Friday was a hellish day, all things considered. Dean was not at all shy in ensuring that the rest of the school knew he had a date with Gia. By now, she knew that it didn't matter one way or another to him whether or not she actually liked him. The only value he held in dating her was the fact that as the object of desire, the 'Golden Fleece' of Harwood, the hottest girl, dating her just made him look so much better.

He had spent the whole day around her. He had slapped her ass more times than she could count, put his arm around her more than once, all just so people would see and notice that he did so. He knew that Gia was too scared of his threat to risk reacting. He knew that she was trained in Martial Arts, hell, any guy that had been in Harwood had known that since Freshman year when she'd left one guy singing soprano when he wouldn't take no for an answer. No, he knew that Gia had little to fear in a direct conflict. He held something much scarier over her.

Gia loathed the situation she was in now, but was somewhat grateful that it happened on Thursday, meaning that after he spent the whole of Friday making sure EVERYONE knew they were now 'an item', that she had something of a respite. He was meeting her for their date' at 8PM, which meant that until then, she was free.

She heard a slight buzzing sound, and groaned. She was not a morning person, she only knew one person that was. Checking her watch, she realised it was around 7am, way too early than was civilised for anyone else. She opened the message from Emma.

"I have something special to show you. Meet me at the Stream on your BMX in an hour."

Gia smiled. No doubt there was some stupid bug or something that Emma wanted her to see. Emma knew that she didn't really care too much about all that environmentalism stuff that seemed to define her, but that didn't mean she didn't still invite Gia to take part. She remembered the first time she'd taken her to a PETA meeting, only to end up being thrown out because she'd made the error of turning up in her leather jacket. Emma always asked her to take part in the stuff that mattered to her, even when Gia didn't really care about, or even understand it.

She got up, and washed quickly, not wanting to delay. Today was going to be hard enough. She didn't want to keep Emma waiting.

A little while later, she found her heart soaring. For a while at least, she was free. Emma had met her by the stream on her BMX. It was always more Emma's scene than hers, but Gia had to admit that it felt good to blast through the woods on the bike. She's only even learned to ride because it was something that Emma liked, but at times when they just went out and rode, she thought that the rest of the world didn't matter. It didn't matter that she knew she was different. It didn't matter that people constantly expected something of her she would never be able to give them. She was still daydreaming, watching Emma taking her down the trail, when the Pink Ranger suddenly called out. Gia didn't really catch what she said, and took a while to realise as Emma skidded to a halt. Looking forward, she saw a felled tree lying across the path. Pulling on the brakes, she skidded to a halt, barely touching it.

"Wow, even when you're not paying attention you're still Ms. Perfect aren't you?" Emma teased her.

"I'm not exactly perfect." Gia grumbled as she set up the kick-stand to her bike. "So...what exactly am I here to see?"

"It's not far from here." Emma told her, gesturing her over. "Come on, it's this way."

Emma's definition of 'not far' was somewhat subjective. She was used to nature walks, and so distances of a mile or so were not exactly unaccustomed to her. They seemed to plough through the woods forever, before Emma held a hand across her chest. She smiled as the Pink Ranger just pointed forward.

"Here." She whispered. Gia followed her into a clearing, where she just looked around. Emma seemed to be elated, but Gia had no idea why.

"Um...alright, I'm still waiting on finding out why I need to be up at this time on a Saturday." Gia commented. Emma just smiled.

"That's why." She answered, gesturing to a flower. Gia just stared at it, not entirely certain what the fuss was. It was pretty, sure, but it was just a flower. Sometimes she didn't really get what Emma saw in the world that she didn't.

"Magnus Bloomus Annulus." Emma announced.

"Wow, that's um...that's quite...something." Gia said as diplomatically as she could. Emma didn't seem to take notice though. She was too busy preparing her camera to take pictures.

"It's a very rare and beautiful flower." Emma explained. "Few people ever see it. No one' entirely sure why, but it only blooms for one day every year."

"It only..." Gia approached the flower slowly as she heard this. It was now that she understood what Emma saw in it. It was a beautiful flower, in and of itself, but now she knew how special it was. It only bloomed once in a year. Emma was showing her something only a handful of people in the world were ever fortunate enough to see. Some people didn't even know that it even existed, and here she was standing close enough to touch it. Part of her wanted to reach out and rip it from the ground, to be able to give it to Emma, to let her keep it forever, but she knew that Emma would only yell at her. She was spellbound staring at it. It was magical; it was like Emma was showing her a part of her that only she would see.

"It...It's beautiful." Gia commented. Emma started snapping pictures as Gia just continued to stare at the flower.

"It kind of shows you what we're all fighting for doesn't it?" Emma asked her as Gia turned to look at her. "It kind of shows you why it's all worth it doesn't it?"

"It really does." Gia replied slightly breathlessly as her gaze shifted to Emma. In the little morning light, streaming between the trees, she looked, if it were possible, even more beautiful. Like she had an ethereal, magical glow to her complexion that made her shine like an angel. Gia watched for a moment as she went this way and that, standing and crouching a few times to get different angles. She swallowed a huge lump in her throat before speaking.

"Would you like me to take a picture of you and the flower?" Gia asked. Emma just smiled as she handed over the camera. She never let anyone other than Gia touch her camera. It was more precious to her than a child, but she trusted Gia enough to let her use it. Emma posed by the flower as Gia took a couple of photos.

"You're going to have to tweet me a couple of those." Gia told her. Emma just frowned.

"Well, I think I'd prefer one with both of us in it." Emma told her. Gia couldn't help feeling giddy hearing that, and grinned somewhat goofily as she looked up from the camera. "There it is."

"What?" Gia asked.

"You smiling." Emma told her. "It's something we don't see too often."

"I...um..." Gia stammered, trying to hide her face. "I don't often have too much to smile about."

"So, is this about Dean by any chance?" Emma asked as she gestured her over. Gia just made her way across, joining Emma by the flower. "You know...your date and everything?"

"I...I guess." Gia replied. She didn't dare risk revealing the truth. The only reason she even agreed to going out with Dean was because of that damned flash drive. He had hacked into her tablet, and taken a copy of her journal. He now knew the truth about her. Not the truth that she was a Ranger, but she was starting to think if he'd taken it a couple of weeks later, perhaps she would have started to write stuff about Gosei and the Ranger stuff. Still, right now it was bad enough what he already knew. He had already made it perfectly clear he had every intention of publishing her journal online, letting everyone know how she felt about Emma if she didn't do what he wanted. So far, all he'd asked her to do was pretend to be his girlfriend, and ask for a date. She could only hope that was all he wanted. "So...you really want me in the picture?"

"Of course I do!" Emma shrieked, grabbing Gia in that way that was just a little too rough, and hurt slightly when she did it. Emma was by nature a tomboy, and so when not handling flowers and insects, she had something of a rough and careless grip at times. She didn't mean anything by it; she just seemed to forget that sometimes the human nervous system worked a little differently from that of the animals she cared about so deeply.

She dragged Gia around to the opposite side of the flower, but despite the bruising and pain, Gia couldn't help smiling. It felt good to be here with Emma, to be a part of something that meant so much to her. Emma just held the camera at arm's length and took the picture.

A while later, Emma took Gia to the mall, kind of her "payment" for sharing her geeky moments with her. She didn't have a printer at home that would print out the pictures from her camera, and tended to use the photo shack at the mall when she had pictures she wanted actual printouts of as opposed to having stored on her laptop. Gia waited patiently while the attendant prepared the pictures for Emma. Emma did the same thing every time they went on one of these little nature treks. She always promised that she would get the ice-cream afterwards. Emma came bounding over, beaming brightly.

"Here they are!" Emma told her.

"Alright, come on, let's see!" Gia begged her. Emma pulled the photos out of the envelope and started to file through them. Neither of them noticed as Dean, who had been eating lunch a little way off came over.

"I think this is my favourite." Emma commented, seeing one with her and Gia standing, smiling next to the flower. "It's proof you actually do know how to smile."

"Of course I know how to smile." Gia stated. "What's that meant to...?"

Her words were cut off as she felt something hit her. It felt like someone had punched her in the lower back, and she and Emma dropped the picture. She looked to Emma, but something just felt...strange. She didn't feel the same happiness she usually did around her. She didn't feel like the world made sense. If anything, all she could feel was...angry. Suddenly, everything about Emma irritated her, and she could remember every argument they'd ever had in vivid detail. She could remember the time Emma had lectured her about cosmetics tested on animals. She could remember the time Emma criticised her choice to wear leather when they were kids...she could remember the time they had lunch a couple of months ago, and Emma had thrown a fit when Gia had ordered veal. She'd already done her research, and knew that it was humanely sourced veal...but as soon as Emma had heard the word veal, that was all it took for her to launch into yet another judgemental rant. Gia grabbed the picture and pulled at it, but Emma had grabbed the other side.

"Gia, let go!" Emma snapped.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Gia snarled angrily. Emma was such a crusader, constantly on her high horse over some issue or other, that Gia was starting to wonder why she was ever even friends with her, never mind...well...at this moment, every feeling she had for Emma was turning from affection to rage.

"Hey Gia..."

"Not now Dean!" Gia snapped. "Why do you get to decide what happens to the picture?"

"Gia..."

"Maybe because I took it?" Emma replied, completely ignoring Dean. She glared at Gia with a rage that the Yellow Ranger had never seen in her since the time she'd seen a couple of guys hare coursing near the school. It was an anger she had never felt directed her way, but it was focussed right at her, like a sniper rifle. "Let go!"

Gia pulled one way, and Emma pulled the other, completely oblivious to Dean, who was standing by them, just finding the whole scene entertaining, before suddenly the picture tore in half. Both Emma and Gia's hands blurred into his face, sending him staggering into a nearby fountain, but still, neither one of them noticed. Their rage was just short of psychotic, and the rest of the world faded into insignificance, including the fact they'd just punched someone in the face. Gia realised she was holding the half with Emma on it, and glared at Emma. Everything about her, her stupid little jean shorts, her obsession with the fact EVERYTHING had to be organic...everything just got so far on her nerves that she wanted to rip her apart. Gia showed her the picture, and to make a point, screwed it up in her hand, before throwing it on the ground. She knew that would annoy her, the fact she was littering.

Emma had the half with Gia on it, and seeing how she treated her half; she screwed it up, and tossed it in a nearby recycling bin, her way of making a point to Gia. Even if they were fighting, there was no reason Gia had to start polluting to make a point. Gia turned on her heel and stormed away, while Emma went the opposite way. Both of them were completely ignorant as Ernie helped Dean out of the fountain, having seen the whole thing from the ice-cream parlour.

"Hey, are you alright kid?" He asked.

"Stupid bitches...I think they broke my nose!" He spluttered.

"I used to box, let me see." Ernie stated, shifting Dean's hands from his face so he could see. "Well...it is swollen, but I don't think it's broken. Come into the shop and I'll get you cleaned up. I'll fix you a smoothie on the house."

Dean went with him, taking a seat, seething at the whole thing. He knew that a few of the other kids had to have seen what happened. He was certain that by now more than a few people were laughing at him.

"Here, take a seat." Ernie told him. "I know both of those girls, and believe me, they aren't like that. I'm sure it was an accident."

As Ernie went to get a first-aid kit, and prepare a sympathy smoothie for Dean, he just sat, fuming about the whole deal. He'd been with a couple of friends in the mall when he'd seen Gia. He wanted to remind everyone that he'd landed a date with the hottest girl in school. Now, he was sure they were laughing at him. Now, he was sure that Gia had made a fool of him.

"You think that was funny bitch?" He spat as he tapped a few keys on his I-phone, calling up the files he's uploaded to a draft file. It was on the upload section of his account on the Harwood Social Hub. He was keeping it as a loaded gun just in case Gia didn't go through with the date, or somehow tried to take the flash drive from him. He already had her journal uploaded and ready to post. All he needed to do was click send.

"Let's see how funny you think it is now I've pulled the trigger!" He snapped. Ernie came back with his smoothie and a first-aid kit.

"Like I said, I have known both girls for a while. I am certain they didn't mean anything by it." He insisted. Dean just smirked.

"Don't worry about it." He replied, clicking the post function on his phone, effectively pulling the trigger on Gia's secret. Within minutes, the whole town would be able to read her journal online on the school's most popular website. He gave a little smirk as Ernie started to treat his nose. "I have a feeling she'll get hers."


	3. Best Friends, Better Enemies

**A/N: **Just before I get any comments, my version of the Beezara episode will differ very significantly from the show. This is partly because I haven't actually seen the episode in its entirety (though I HAVE seen clips amounting to probably about 70 percent of the episode), but mainly because I wanted to alter it to fit better into my own storyline. Hope you all enjoy it.

Noah and Troy followed Jake across the courtyard of the school towards the playing fields. Jake had kind of a skip in his step as he went, tossing the ball around as he led them. It had taken him a while, but he had finally convinced the others to go with him to his team's practice ground. He had tried numerous times to get the others to hang out, insisting several times that they needed to get on the same page. While things were starting to become a little better, none of them could deny that their first couple of battles had been something of an adventure for all the wrong reasons.

With the exception of Gia and Troy, none of them were especially great at fighting. Emma had been shown some stuff by Gia to be able to defend herself, but she was far from what would be considered a skilled Martial Artist. She knew what she was doing to an extent, but it was clear it was mainly strong basics.

By his own admission, Jake was really more of a brawler. He's been in a couple of fights in his time, mainly at times when some of the local bullies wouldn't leave Noah alone, or frustrations boiled over on the soccer pitch, but he never really took boxing or anything. He tended to rely on his strength and physical conditioning to overcome his opponents. His first couple of battles, it had worked, but he was sure that in time he could no longer rely on simply powering his way through, and would need to do what he was doing. Noah...he loved his best friend dearly, but fighting had never been his forte. Noah was far more inclined to try and talk his way out of trouble or avoiding fights, something that wasn't an option anymore.

Troy had already drawn up a training schedule, so they were already starting to address the issue of the fact that most of them had never done Martial Arts before, and none of them had actually used weapons. They weren't likely to be considered experts any time soon, but at least they were progressing. The main thing that Jake kept harping on about now though was the fact that they needed to pull together as a team. The fact was, they were all very different people. Emma and Gia had been best friends since Kindergarten, as had Jake and Noah, but they'd never really hung out before this year. Troy...well, he'd only arrived in town a few weeks previously. Once the training or Ranger battles were over with, more often than not, they all went their separate ways. Jake was starting to think that maybe they could do more to bring them all onto the same page.

"So, why exactly are we getting dragged out here and the girls aren't?" Noah groaned, looking around. Jake just smiled.

"Apparently they had something important to do in the woods." Noah replied. "Apparently Emma dragged Gia out the house at the crack of dawn to see some plant or something."

"And we're here because...?" Troy asked, waiting for Jake to answer. Jake just turned to face him.

"You think anything that gets us training is a bad thing?" Jake asked him. "Besides, Gosei's been telling us we need to get the teamwork tightened up. I thought we should all spend more time together, you know, get a better idea of how we all roll by doing some team stuff outside of the Spandex."

"It's not Spandex." Noah corrected him in an off-hand way. "Besides, we both know who you really want to spend more time with. You're probably only bringing us out here because Gia turned you down and you couldn't cancel without it being obvious you only wanted to get her out here."

Troy just smirked hearing this. He rarely said much on personal matters, but Jake's crush was so bluntly obvious, even he had picked up on it. It was starting to become a running joke among the guys. Jake just gave them a little glare.

"Hey, I wanted to get all of us out here. If you don't believe me, look up ahead." He told them, gesturing to the field. There were five guys waiting on them, all members of Jake's soccer team, specifically five of the guys on the B-team. Harwood's team regularly competed with other schools in pursuit of the championship, and they had a full roster, meaning that there were a few guys that dutifully attended practice, but rarely got more than a few minutes on the field. Jake had found it easy to convince them to come out here on a Saturday for a little time with the star striker. "OK guys, a little change of plan, as you can see I only convinced two guys to come out here, so...we'll just take turns about. Noah, Troy, this is Alex, Sean, Luke, Eddie and..."

"Jordan!" Troy said with a smile, shaking Jordan's hand. It hadn't been long ago that Jordan, the other new kid in town, had gone around telling everyone that he was the Red Ranger. It was kind of a dumb thing to do, and had ended up with him putting himself in danger needlessly when he attempted to prove his lies to the rest of the school. He'd learned his lesson, and indeed had come clean about his lies. He was something of an outcast after that. However, Troy had reached out to him. As the other new kid in town, he understood Jordan's desire to be recognised and fit in. They'd hung out a couple of times after that. "Hey, I didn't know you were on the team!"

"Um...I'm a pretty recent addition." Jordan informed them. "I figured that maybe it would help with my status as the school's social leper."

"Jordan, it isn't that bad." Jake told him. "But I guess proving yourself to them on the pitch couldn't hurt. This guy has some serious moves! If he keeps this up, he'll be off the B-team in no time."

"Well, I know nothing about soccer, so I say we have our team captains." Troy stated. "So...we're doing turn about?"

"OK, Three on Three." Noah agreed. "I'll sit out for a while."

"I'd rather watch for a bit too." Troy told them. "I guess it would help if I knew how to play the game."

"Dude, get on board with the soccer thing. It's the way to success." Jake told him. "Just look at David Beckham. He was earning nearly a hundred grand a week at one time."

As the others ran out onto the field, Noah just smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah, and at around the same time Bill Gates was earning nearly ten million a second." He chuckled, taking a seat and pulling out his I-phone as it bleeped. He checked it, seeing it was an update from his website, the Harwood Social Hub. He was always cautious, knowing that since anyone could post stuff on it, he had to keep a close eye on it. He was pretty obsessive about it, and spent hours on it each day, but there were times he wasn't on, and thanks to the internet, a lot could happen in even a couple of hours. He had his phone set to alert him if there were any large increases in viewership of his site. If anything was causing his site to take off, he wanted to know what it was.

"What the...?" He breathed, seeing the figure on his phone.

"What is it?" Troy asked him as he started doing some exercises to warm up for his turn on the field.

"It's an alert from the Harwood Social Hub." Noah informed him. "Apparently the number of hits has doubled in the last hour."

As he was about to check it up though, he heard a yell coming from the field and looked up. He saw a monster and some Loogies surrounding the guys on the field. Noah and Troy immediately ran onto the field to help. They knew that they couldn't morph because of the other guys on the field, but they had to do something. If nothing else, they needed to help them run.

In another part of town, Gia trudged through the streets, heading for home. After her blow-up with Emma, she wasn't in the mood to see anyone. She just wanted to get home, close the door, and pretend the day had never happened.

She still couldn't get over what had happened. Whenever she thought about Emma, she just...just...

She shook her head. She couldn't even remember what they had fallen out over. All she knew was that Emma was in the wrong as always. She couldn't even think of the Pink Ranger without feeling like she wanted to tear something apart, but she was so enraged she couldn't think of anything else. She walked past a group of kids, and could see that they were staring at her, gathered around a tablet, and sniggering. She couldn't care less though. As she powered along the pavement, she saw a couple of other, slightly similar things. A guy that was walking the other way bumped into her, but as he apologised, he furrowed his brows, looking between his I-phone and Gia. Gia just rounded on him.

"What?" She roared. "Can I help you with something?"

"Um...no, I'm good." The guy replied, before heading off. Gia just rolled her eyes. Why was she constantly surrounded by idiots? She heard a bleeping from her morpher and pulled it out, finding somewhere quiet to answer it.

"WHAT?" She yelled.

"Jeez, if I had eardrums I'd be in trouble." Tensou replied. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm just...having a bad day." Gia replied. "What is it?"

"A monster named Beezara has attacked the boys and some of their friends at the soccer pitch." He informed her. "Gosei's contacting Emma..."

"Don't bother; she'll just slow me down!" Gia snapped in response. "I'll handle it."

"Gia..."

"I said I'll handle it!" Gia reiterated as she ran in the direction of the school. Tensou just turned on the spot, looking towards Gosei.

"Gosei, did you hear that?" He asked.

"I did. Emma replied in a similar fashion." Gosei answered. "This is a troubling development."

"It's at times like this I'm glad I can't feel nervous." Tensou replied as he turned to the viewing screen.

Over at the park, the battle was not going well. While the guys were doing well against the Loogies, they simply didn't have the power they needed against Beezara. Jake couldn't see straight as a hard shot to the head sent him to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Troy asked him.

"Ask me again next month." Jake replied. Noah watched as Beezara swiped Jordan with her claws, and he collapsed to the ground. It was a pretty superficial shot, certainly not something that should have such a pronounced effect on someone his size. He slumped to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Looking around, he saw that the other guys had similar injuries, and also seemed to be unconscious.

"Guys, Beezara's knocked them out." Noah told them. "We can morph."

"Wait, are you sure?" Jake asked in response. "What if...?"

"I don't think we have a choice in the matter." Troy replied. As the three boys stood up though, reaching for their morphers, Beezara fired some barbed stingers their way. All three of them hit the ground, and suddenly felt cold.

"I...I can't move." Noah told them, struggling to get his body to respond to his commands. "Guys, I think we've been poisoned."

"I can't move either." Troy replied. Just then, Emma ran onto the scene, firing her Phoenix blaster. Beezara staggered a little under the force of the blasts.

"Great, the cavalry's here." Jake commented. "The girls will..."

"Um...I only see Emma." Troy stated.

"Me too." Noah agreed. "What gives?"

Emma did what she could, destroying many of the Loogies, and even scoring some telling hits on Beezara. She just imagined Gia on the other end of every attack. She could never remember being so angry at anyone, certainly never Gia, and the worst thing was, she couldn't even really remember why they had fallen out. She just remembered Gia tearing one of her photographs, and then...all she could do was think about how everything about her made her want to beat her into submission, just to show her she really wasn't as tough and strong as she thought she was.

Beezara managed to get the better of her though. Fighting alone, Emma only had so much firepower to bring to bear. As she was grabbed, and roughly slammed to the ground, she rolled away.

"Big surprise, I'm pulling your ass out of the fire yet again!" Gia snarled as she appeared on the scene, smashing into Beezara with her Tiger Claw. The monster screamed and flew a significant distance, before hitting the ground. "Well, don't worry about it; I'll deal with your mess as usual!"

"Wait, what did Gia just say?" Noah asked, unable to remember them ever having a crossed word.

"The only reason you got that shot in is because she was looking at me!" Emma yelled, coming to Gia's side and getting in her face, shoving her roughly.

"Wait...are they fighting each other?" Jake asked.

"Focus!" Troy yelled at them. "The monster!"

"He's right..."

"Well, trust you to need someone else to tell you what to do." Gia interrupted her, patting her shoulder in a condescending way. "Well don't worry, I'll deal with..."

"We need more firepower." Emma told her, tapping her Phoenix Blaster. "I've had this thing on full power the whole time! We need the Mega Blaster!"

"Listen, we...hey, what are you doing?" Gia screamed as Emma grabbed her Lion Claw, and began trying to fit their weapons together. "That's mine, let go!"

"We need the Mega Blaster!" Emma repeated angrily. "Just let me..."

"It doesn't fit like that!" Gia screamed. "OW, that hurt! Just...what are you...?"

"Ah, I see my venom worked." Beezara cackled as she recovered. She fired a huge blast at the girls, causing both of them to fly several feet and de-morph. "Best friends make even better enemies! How are you going to fight me when you're too busy fighting each other?"

They were both struggling on the ground to get up, glaring at each other hatefully. Each of them was determined to show the other up, to prove that they were right. Before they could get to their feet through, they both found themselves fading away, being teleported from the battlefield.

"Beezara did this to them." Jake stated, realising what she had said. It all now made sense. He could never remember them fighting, he couldn't even remember the last time one of them raised their voice to the other.

"Now then my drones, I have a feeling that it'll be a while before we see them again." She commented. "I guess that gives us a little while. That battle took a little out of me, and I could use some pampering. Now, take me somewhere I can rest."

"Did she seriously ask us to...?" Jake began to ask, but suddenly he found his body moving, but it wasn't under his power. He got up, as did the others, and they all turned towards Beezara. "Uh...what are we doing?"

"You're doing what any good drone does." Beezara told them, snapping her fingers. They all gathered around her and lifted her up. "Whatever their queen tells them to."

"I can't stop myself." Noah complained.

"None of us can." Jake answered.

"This isn't good." Troy muttered, realising what this meant. The guys were all completely under Beezara's control, apparently they couldn't do anything without her say so, which meant their fate was now in the hands of the girls, who by the looks of things were at each others' throats. They were in serious trouble.

Gia and Emma appeared back in the command centre, collapsing to the floor. Emma was the first one up, and reached out for Gia's arm, only for Gia to pull it away.

"I don't need your help; I can stand up by myself!" Gia snapped at her. "This was all your fault!"

"My fault?" Emma shrieked. "I wasn't the one that kept pulling away while we tried to form the Mega Blaster!"

"Girls..." Tensou tried to interject.

"Well, I wasn't the one who spent half the time on my ass!" Gia called back, ignoring Tensou. "I'll bet you saw that big bug and decided to try and befriend it didn't you? Grow up Emma, sometimes bugs need to be squashed!"

"Girls..." Tensou tried again, just to be shoved back by Emma, who wasn't even looking at him.

"And fighting is always the best answer to everything right?" Emma answered. "Do you know why half the girls in the school hate your guts? It isn't jealousy, it's because you spend all your time lording it over everyone and looking down your nose at anything that isn't the way you think it should be!"

"Girls..." Tensou tried again, only to be ignored again.

"I'M judgemental?" Gia scoffed. "So says the girl that once gave me a four hour lecture about eating lobster!"

"Girls..."

"SHUT UP TENSOU!" Gia and Emma chorused, rounding on the little robot. By now, Gosei had heard enough.

"SILENCE!" He declared in a thundering voice, causing the command centre to shake. The two girls immediately stopped fighting and stared up at him in fear. Although they had never seen him do...well...anything really, he was just a face on a wall after all; they knew that he had power at his disposal. Without leaving this fortress, he had created all the powers and weapons the team had at their disposal. "Beezara models herself after Earth's bumble bees."

"But she's blue." Gia commented. "Shouldn't she be black and yellow?"

"Yeah, the first thing you think about is appearances." Emma snorted. "Typical of the Harwood Ice Queen."

"What did you just call me?" Gia yelled.

"Her venom causes pronounced effects on humans." He told them. "In males, it turns them into her drones, slaves that will do anything she asks, unable to resist her commands on a biological level."

"Does that sound familiar?" Emma said cattily. Gia just glared at her.

"SILENCE!" Gosei thundered again, bringing their attention back to him. "Among females, her venom has a different effect. I believe you have both been affected."

"What? You're saying we've been poisoned?" Gia asked him.

"So what do we do about it?" Emma asked him.

"Clearly you cannot work together." Gosei stated, ignoring their inquiries.

"Well, that's a statement of the obvious." Emma sneered, crossing her arms defiantly.

"For once we agree on something." Gia answered, doing the same. Gosei just fell silent for a moment.

"One of you will go and help the others." Gosei declared. "I will give you temporary possession of the full range of cards at your disposal to use as you see fit. The other will remain here."

"No worries." Gia said, stepping forward. "I'll have this wrapped up..."

"Emma will go." Gosei replied. Emma gave Gia a smug little smirk.

"Her?" Gia questioned him. "She can barely fight at all! She was getting her ass handed to her..."

"Perhaps with more power at her disposal, and no one to fight against her, she will fare differently." Gosei suggested. "Beezara models herself after your bumblebees, and has the power of flight. Tactically, sending one with the power of air is the best option."

"No, this is a mistake, you can't be serious!" Gia continued to protest. "I'll go..."

With that, manacles launched up out the floor, snapping themselves around Gia's wrists, before pulling her down roughly to the floor. Gia just looked to the chains in disgust.

"Looks like someone got grounded." Emma teased her, before pulling out her morpher. "See you when I get back, I've got to go save the others."

With that, Emma teleported away. Gia tried in vain to pull against her manacles, but quickly decided that it was a futile effort.

"Gosei, let me go." She demanded, but the red glow in Gosei's eyes disappeared, indicating that he was no longer listening. "Hey, come back, let me go! Tensou! Tensou!"

She looked around, but the robot had also disappeared, scurrying off to hide somewhere. Gia just sat on the floor, cross-legged, and snorted in anger as the viewing screen came on. She was helpless to do anything but watch, all the while seething over the fact that she was getting punished for what were clearly Emma's failings.


	4. Mending a Friendship

Noah balked, and gagged, desperately trying to keep the contents of his stomach intact as he rubbed Beezara's feet. It was a disgusting task, mainly because she had some kind of gunk coating most of her soles and between her toes. It smelled so foul that his eyes were watering, and it felt...he didn't even want to begin imagining what it was. Beezara just leaned back, with a drink in one hand, and the other stretched out to where Troy was filing her talons, while Jake kept her cool with a large, feather fan. The other football players were behind them, standing awaiting her orders.

"Oh man, this is rank." Noah complained as he felt something creeping up in his throat, which he had to try and force down. "I just can't stop myself."

"We all know this is a monster." Jake stated, continuing to fan her dutifully. "Why can't we just run?"

"We can't." Noah told him. "It's her venom; it obviously creates some kind of synaptic link between our minds and hers. We obey her on an instinctive level, we can't disobey her, even if we know what we're doing is..."

"Enough talking, I'm trying to get my beauty rest!" Beezara chastised him. "Don't forget the gunk between my toes. Hey you, the manicurist, what are you trying to do, start a fire?"

Troy just shrugged, and started filing more slowly. The pile of dust beneath her hand was already the size of a small anthill. His arms ached from the effort, but without her telling him to stop, he could only keep going as best as he could.

"You'll need a lot of it then." Noah sneered as he started his stomach-wrenching task. "Oh man, I'm going to be sick!"

"That's no way to speak to your queen." Beezara snarled. She pointed to Jake. "You, hit him!"

"What?" Noah asked, looking up as Jake turned on him. He could see in the Black Ranger's face that he was trying to stop himself with every fibre of his being, but under Beezara's spell, he couldn't. He could see the look in Jake's eyes, and realised that he had a flash of inspiration. He turned and whacked him over the head with the fan.

"Ow!" Noah whined.

"I'm so sorry dude. I couldn't help it." Jake pleaded with him. He gave Noah a little smile though, communicating Noah's suspicion. Beezara hadn't been especially precise in her instructions, she just told him to hit Noah. Jake obviously reasoned that hitting him with the feather fan would hurt a lot less than if he hit him with say a fist or a foot. Beezara laughed as Noah crawled back into position, taking amusement in his pain.

"Now, that's what I've been missing, entertainment!" She called out. She looked around to the four soccer players she also had under her spell, and pointed to two of them, Jordan and Eddie. "You two, over there!"

Jordan and Eddie looked at each other, before obeying. They didn't know what she had in mind, but the doubted it was good.

"You, stand there, you, stand there!" She instructed each of them, gesturing to two spots on the ground about eight feet apart. Jordan and Eddie just did as they were told. "Now, face each other."

They turned to confront each other, and suddenly a horrible thought came to Jordan's mind. The one thing he hadn't lied about when he got to town, and claimed he was the Red Ranger was that he had done Martial Arts. He'd been studying karate for about a year and a half. Sure, he was no Ranger, but he knew what he was doing enough to know what this looked like. This looked frighteningly like a sparring match.

"Wait, you want us to fight each other?" Jordan asked her. She just gave an evil smile.

"You catch on quickly." She stated, taking out a dagger and throwing it into the ground, where it stood upright, handle in the air. "To the death!"

Neither of them wanted to do it, but they simply couldn't stop themselves. Jordan and Eddie ran towards each other, each going for the knife. Fortunately for both of them, a blast ripped between them, sending both of them falling away. They landed on the ground and stopped moving, completely unconscious.

"Sorry guys, it's the only thing I could think of." Emma stated. "It's for your own good."

She fired another two blasts, taking down the other soccer players before Beezara could force them to do anything to put themselves in danger.

"The girls, they're back!" Jake stated excitedly, looking around for Gia. "No doubt Gosei's done something. You're in for it now!"

"Uh...Jake?" Noah stated. "I don't see Gia anywhere."

"Gia's not coming." Emma informed them. "I'm taking you down all by myself."

"Really?" Beezara chuckled. "And what makes you think you can do that when I defeated you so easily the last time?"

"Because this time, I've got all the firepower I need." Emma replied, tapping the container in her belt, which currently housed all the Power Cards the Rangers had at their disposal. Beezara just got up and started to make her way over.

"You three, just sit there; keep your mouths shut and watch." Beezara told the guys. They all sat on a log, clamping their hands over their mouths and prepared to watch the battle. "This won't take long."

Back at the command centre, Gia was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, just watching the viewing screen in frustration. She had tried for a while to free herself from Gosei's manacles, but she only succeeded in frustrating herself further, and making her fingers and wrists throb from the effort. By now, she had resigned herself to the futility of her situation. She was going nowhere, not until Gosei chose to release her, whether she liked it or not.

She couldn't believe he had chosen Emma over her. Sure, Emma had the power over air, something she shared with Jake, but she wasn't the strongest fighter. Gia was the logical choice; she was a far better fighter.

She snorted as she thought about it. Why did he send Emma with all the weapons? Why didn't Gosei just hand Beezara the keys to the command centre? It was a stupid thing to do. That was something that was confirmed as she saw Emma taking a hard shot and flying into some trees.

"Wow Gosei, that was a great decision." Gia said sarcastically. "Hey, maybe next time you could send a toddler! That would really terrify..."

"Why are you tearing her down like that?" Tensou asked her as he rolled into view. "Shouldn't you support your team mates?"

"She's getting her butt kicked!" Gia told him. "If that was me, I'd totally have chosen...wait...is she calling the Snake Axe? What's she thinking...? Look, she can't even lift it!"

With that, there was another blast, one so loud that Gia recoiled on the floor.

"You're not out there, you're in here." Tensou reminded her. "You might not like her, but at least you can support her. That's what being in a team's all about."

"But..."

"If nothing else, she has all your weapons with her." Tensou reminded her. "If she fails, you all fail."

Gia felt her stomach churning and was struggling to breathe. Emma was out there, all alone, with quite literally all their hopes resting entirely on her. Gia watched on as Emma took another devastating shot, and hit the ground hard, this time taking a lot longer to respond.

Back at the site of the battle, Emma struggled to breathe after the last hit. The suit took the brunt of the damage, but Beezara was so strong that her attacks were still devastating.

"Damn it Jake, how do you even use this stupid thing?" Emma complained, tossing the Snake Axe aside. "Dragon Sword..."

Before she got a chance to use it though, Beezara had blasted her again, sending the sword spinning away, imbedding itself in a tree. Emma could feel her frustration building. It didn't matter what she did, Beezara seemed to have an answer for it, even before she had a chance to try. The Power Cards were useless if she never got a chance to put the weapons into action. She struggled shakily to her feet, and swallowed her pride. Despite the anger, despite all the rage she felt, she wished Gia was there.

"You're still getting up? I'm almost impressed." Beezara taunted her as Emma brought out the Shark Blowgun. She fired it at Beezara, but the shot missed by a significant margin. Thanks to the earlier punishment, her vision was starting to fail her. Beezara stepped forward, grabbing the weapon and ripped it from Emma's grasp, before grabbing her around the throat. She lifted her off the ground, Emma's legs kicking in a futile effort to relieve the pressure on her throat, choking the life out of her.

"It's a shame for you that you were born a girl. If you'd been a boy, perhaps I'd have kept you around as a slave." Beezara stated. "Still, there's only room for one queen bee. It's just a shame you Rangers die so easily. Otherwise, I'd have a sense of accomplishment about this."

Back in the command centre, Gia watched in horror, and renewed her struggle against her restraints. As she did so, Gosei's eyes lit up, indicating he had returned.

"Gosei!" Gia called out. "You have to release me! I need to be out there!"

"You will go soon enough." He told her. "Emma's life readings are very weak. Her battle will not last much longer."

"What?" Gia asked him, finding herself dumbfounded. "You...you're going to make me wait until...?"

"You said you cannot work with her. You said she would get in your way." He reminded her.

"But...but she's a Ranger!" Gia screamed at him. "Shouldn't you let me...?"

"It is possible you were right. Perhaps I should have chosen you." Gosei stated. "It is a mistake with a grave cost. It is not my first, and I doubt it will be my last."

Gia looked to the viewing screen, watching Emma struggle, but start to grow weaker under Beezara's chokehold. She felt her heart growing cold watching it. She was angry with Emma, she couldn't stand to be around her, but watching this, watching her suffering pushed all of that to the back of her mind. Tears started to run down her face as she turned back to Gosei.

"Please, you've got to let me go!" Gia begged him, her heart racing as she looked between him and the viewing screen. She still felt the anger, but the love she felt for Emma was over-riding it. Seeing Emma in mortal danger, being unable to do anything but watch her suffer, she felt herself overwhelmed. "Emma's...she...I can..."

"You can defeat Beezara? I already know you told me that." Gosei stated. "You will go..."

"You heartless bastard!" Gia screamed at him, her rage now focussed completely at Gosei, the only one standing between her and Emma. He was the only one that could release her, allow her to go and help Emma. The guys were still unable to do anything to help, only she could, and only if Gosei allowed her to. "Are you really going to keep me here? Are you really going to make me watch this?"

"It is what you chose." Gosei stated.

"I don't want her to die!" Gia screamed. "I don't care about my ego, I don't care if you think I'm better than her or not, I just...I want to help her! I can help her, just please, let me go!"

With that, the manacles fell from her wrists. Gia got up, wiping her eyes.

"Take this." He told her as a Power Card appeared in her hand. "It's for Emma and Troy, but you will need to deliver it. Now go!"

With that, Gia morphed, while Gosei teleported her out of the command centre.

Back at the site of the battle, Emma was on her knees, her vision starting to become rimmed in black as Beezara continued to strangle her. Her hands fell from Beezara's wrist, no longer able to fight. All she could do was wait for the inevitable.

Just then, Emma felt Beezara's hand leave her throat, and collapsed to the ground. She could hear some cries and yells, combined with some explosions. Her suit re-energised her a little, and she recovered enough in time to see Gia attacking Beezara ferociously with her Tiger Claw. She knocked the creature down, before spinning over to Emma, cradling her body as she helped her up.

"Emma, Emma, speak to me!" Gia begged her. "Please don't let me be too late. Please, if anything's happened..."

"Gia?" Emma asked her she felt the anger at Gia somewhere in her mind, but it was slipping away. She had wished for her to come, and just when she needed her, she was there, just like she always had been. Gia helped her up to her knees.

"Thank God you're alright." Gia said in relief as she looked to her. "Look, this venom, we know what it does, we know this anger isn't real. We don't have to like each other right now, we just need to pull it together for a couple of minutes."

"Well, my approach didn't work." Emma replied. Gia handed her a Power Card.

"Gosei told me to give you this." Gia told her. Emma smiled as she received it.

"The Sky Brothers card?" She asked. "Well, let's see what this can do."

"How about we stop the divisive thing? Neither of us have succeeded on our own." Gia reminded her, pulling out the Earth Brothers card. They each called forth a mini zord, attaching it to their blasters as they got up, aiming at Beezara.

"Beezara hit me pretty hard. My aim's a little screwy." Emma told her, moving right into Gia. The Yellow Ranger reached around her, taking her wrist, and aiming for her, levelling her own blaster with it.

"I've got you." Gia assured her.

"Super Dino Blast!" They chorused as they pulled the trigger. The Ptera and Dino Blasts spiralled around each other, surging straight through Beezara. The creature screamed one last time, before falling to the ground and exploding.

Emma and Gia staggered away, feeling something burning inside painfully. Once they recovered though, they looked at each other, and the unnatural rage was gone. They didn't feel the intense hatred they once had. Looking across, they saw the guys getting up, and heading their way.

"Thanks, I don't think I could have taken another minute of being her cabana boy." Jake stated, putting his arm around Gia. The Yellow Ranger was so grateful for the end of the spell that she didn't even stop him. She was too busy looking at Emma, trying to think of how she would apologise for all the horrible things she had said to her while they were under the spell. Troy just looked up.

"We might want to save this for another time." He told them. "We have bigger problems."

"The others are still out." Noah stated, pointing to the four soccer players. "It's safe to morph."

The guys all morphed, and together they formed the Megazord, preparing for battle. Beezara, re-energised by the Zombats, attacked with tremendous power. The Rangers were thrown around in their seats as she attacked.

"OK, even if she hadn't made me rub her stinky feet, I would still be so over this monster!" Noah snapped. "What can we do?"

"Troy, Gosei gave us a new Power Card." Emma told him. Troy reached into his holster, pulling out the Sky Brothers card and smiled.

"I guess it's worth a shot." He announced. "Sky Brothers Megazord!"

The Crow, Hawk and Ptera Zords soared into view, attacking Beezara, sending her to the ground, before connecting up with the Megazord. Troy grabbed the controls.

"I still prefer the Land Brothers, but this is seriously cool." Jake commented.

"This is a serious can of bug spray." Noah agreed, checking their power levels.

"Fly swatter." Emma corrected him. "If you must go around killing bugs, no need to destroy the ozone layer to do it."

"Alright, let's see what this fly swatter can do." Troy stated. "Victory Charge!"

The Megazord launched into the air, powering up its attack, before surging towards the dazed and injured Beezara. With one last strike, she fell for the second and last time. Troy and the others relaxed at the controls, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I am so glad that's over." Noah stated.

"I swear, I am ordering the biggest banana split Ernie has on the menu." Jake declared. Noah just grabbed his arm.

"Please don't talk about food." He begged. "I'm still getting over that foot gunk."

"Ice cream sounds good." Troy laughed. "The guys never saw you. We'll get them to a hospital to get checked out. We'll meet you girls in an hour."

"That sounds good." Gia replied. "Emma, mind if we go to your place to get cleaned up?"

"I'd love that." Emma assured her with a smile, that was tinged with a little sadness. She knew that it was a spell, but she hated the fact that she had said some pretty hurtful things to Gia during that time. It was a relief that Gia still wanted to come around.

A little later, Emma and Gia were making their way towards Ernie's. Just before they got there, Gia grabbed Emma's arm. Emma turned to face her.

"Emma, can I talk to you for a while?" She asked. "Just...before we go in?"

"Sure, what is it?" Emma asked a little nervously. Gia pulled her aside, and started to search her mind for what she wanted to say to her.

"I know it was just a spell, but...I know I said some pretty horrible things to you." Gia started to say. "I felt so angry and bitter towards you, that I just...I started to use things...things that I knew would hurt you."

"It's alright, I know..."

"I know how important all this environmental stuff is to you. I know it's something you're really passionate about, and while sometimes I don't really get it...I know it's something that's really important to you." Gia told her, looking into her eyes. "I should never have attacked you about it. It was really low."

"I said some really nasty things too." Emma conceded. "I don't think you're the Harwood Ice Queen. I know you too well for that. I know that you just like things on your terms. You just don't follow others. It's...one of the things I always liked about you. It's one of the things we always had in common."

Gia just smiled and offered her a hug.

"Friends again?" She asked. Emma gave her that bright smile that always made her heart skip a beat and hugged her.

"Always." Emma replied. She was relieved that Gia forgave her. She couldn't imagine not being best friends with her. Gia had been with her for so much of her life, that she would never want to lose her, least of all to some careless words. Emma offered Gia an arm. "The guys will be waiting."

"Well, let's not leave them waiting too long." Gia answered. With that, they went towards the ice-cream parlour, blissfully ignorant of a couple of kids from school, staring at them, with an I-pad between them and sniggering.

, Troy and Noah were sitting waiting, and talking while Jake fetched some ice-cream. He came back to the table as the girls arrived. He started limping.

"Hey Noah, can you give me a foot rub?" He teased his friend. "I hear you're good at that."

"Hey, don't joke about it. I still can't get that stink out of my mind." Noah told him. "Besides, I'm still mad about that fan whack."

"Dude, I didn't have a choice." Jake told him. "Besides, I did what I could; I only hit you with the fan. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Hey, the girls are here." Troy announced, seeing them walking in arm-in-arm. "So, best friends again?"

"Always." Gia said with a huge smile. "We know we weren't in our right minds when we said all those mean things."

Noah's phone bleeped, and he checked it.

"What? This is amazing!" Noah stated with a huge grin, fishing out his laptop. "With everything that's been going on, I haven't checked the Harwood Social Hub all day, the hits have been going haywire!"

The others just ignored him as he booted up his laptop. They understood that his site was important to him, but they weren't as passionate about it as he was. It was just a website after all.

"Hey Emma, I meant to say, your picture made the evening edition." Jake told her, pulling out a newspaper. Emma just got a look of horror on her face. "It's a really great picture, especially of you Gia..."

Emma snatched the paper off him and clamped a hand over his mouth. Troy just laughed and shook his head.

"The hand on mouth thing is way too familiar." He commented. Gia just looked at her.

"What picture?" Gia asked. Emma suddenly looked very sheepish, and handed over the paper.

"Now...try to remember, I was still really mad at you." Emma said nervously as Gia looked at the paper. It was almost half the page, showing a picture of Gia and Emma by the Magnus Bloomus Annulus. The headline read 'Best Friends Find Rare Flower'. Gia just looked at the picture. "I know you hate it, I only did it because of the poison. I wanted to get to you, please..."

"I love it." Gia said, getting up and making her way behind Emma, wrapping her arms around her, pulling her face in close. With that, they heard some wolf whistling and some laugher.

"Hey, get a room!" Someone called over. "I paid ten bucks for this ice cream; I want it to stay down."

Gia just turned and looked at the guy that said it.

"What?" Gia asked him.

"Come on man, this is pretty hot." Another guy said with a childish grin. "Let them put on a floor show if they want."

"Oh God." Noah gasped as he looked at his laptop. Unfortunately no one was paying attention to him. "Um...Gia..."

"What did you say?" Gia asked him. Noah grabbed her arm and pulled her down.

"Gia. I think it's about this." He told her. He turned the computer towards her, at which she saw he had pulled up the Harwood Social Hub. Her heart froze in her chest as she looked at the screen in horror. She remembered Dean's threat, and while it was a while before their 'date', clearly he didn't care. He had posted her journal online for everyone to see just as he had threatened he would.

Gia looked around, and saw the other kids in the cafe staring at her. Just about every second one of them had some form of I-pad, Tablet, I-phone or laptop. All of them were staring at her, some with judgemental expressions, some with childish smirks and laughs. Emma looked at the site, and read a little, before looking up at Gia.

"Gia, please I didn't know." Noah pleaded with her. "I haven't been on the site all day. If I'd seen this..."

Gia could only look at Emma, who didn't know what to say, and tears started to run down her face. She couldn't think of anything else to do, and observed the only instinct that occurred to her and ran as fast as she could, barging past kids on the way to a chorus of laughter.


	5. The Search for Gia

It was only because it was Saturday, because it was the weekend that the Rangers didn't really know where to find Gia once she ran out of the Brainfreeze. The fact was, none of them really knew her particularly well, other than Emma. Looking at the Pink Ranger now, slumped in a corner booth as the others came back, it appeared even she had no real ideas where she would have gone.

"Alright, that's it." Noah sighed dejectedly as he backed away from his laptop, like it was the detonator to a nuke. In some ways it was, while it was never his intention for his website, which he had hoped would one day be looked on as the next Facebook, he still felt horrible about the fact that someone had posted Gia's journal on his website. While he knew it didn't really matter if he chose HIS website, ot the huge multitude of social network sites available, Bebo, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter...the fact was it was his. It was the Harwood Social Hub that had in a single afternoon destroyed Gia's life. Normaly, he checked it every couple of hours, but on that day, he'd been occupied. He still hated himself for the fact that it was his website that had single-handedly destroyed Gia's life. "It's gone"

"You deleted the whole thing?" Troy asked. Noah just nodded.

"No doubt others will have made copies and re-posted it elsewhere, but it won't appear on the Harwood Social Hub again." He assured them. Jake saw the way Emma was hugging her knees to her chest on the couch. It was now nearly ten, long after Ernie's normally closed, but he was only too happy to let them stay. He had an I-phone himself, so he knew quickly after they did what had happened.

"Emma?" He asked her.

"I never knew." She breathed sadly, tears running down her face. "I mean, I know we've been best friends forever, but...I never knew she liked me that way."

"Hey, she's a smart person, she kept it pretty close to her chest." Jake said reassuringly. "Hell, I've been chasing after her for about two years and I never figured it out."

"We really need to find her." Emma told them flatly. "Gia doesn't really do well on her own."

"But..she's a loner." Troy commented. "She's always pushed others aside..."

"You don't understand, that's all just a front." Emma explained as tears ran down her face. "She likes to pretend she doesn't need anyone, like she's some super-tough super hero but she's not. There are a lot of things that hurt her, things that get to her."

"Like...this?" Troy asked her. Emma just nodded.

"She hates letting people in, she thinks that trusting people is just letting them have the opportunity to betray her." She explained. "I probably know more about her than anyone else on the planet, and that took over ten years."

"So, where would she have gone?" Jake asked her. Emma was slightly hesitant to answer. She knew all about Jake's crush, and until she had seen the glimpse she had of Gia's diary, she would have thought he would have been good for her. Now though, a lot of what she thought she knew about Gia was in question. According to her journal, she'd been aware of...well...what she was...for almost five years. For five years at least, she had been lying to Emma, her best friend, the only one that ever talked to her about the important things in life. It hurt badly that Gia hadn't confided in her, but it hurt even more that Gia had managed to keep up the pretence for so long without her ever suspecting.

"I really don't know." Emma replied. "We've already tried everywhere I know."

"Gosei has to be able to track her." Noah told them, pulling out his morpher. "Gosei..."

"I am aware of your situation." He answered before Noah could ask. "So far, Gia is unharmed."

"Unharmed?" Jake asked incredulously. "Everyone in town saw that website! They all know about her! She..."

"She is a strong and resourceful person." Gosei told him. "I will keep track of her. She will be fine."

"Thanks Gosei." Troy answered sadly. It wasn't exactly a satisfactory answer to their conundrum, they all wanted to see her, to see with their own eyes that she was at least safe. Still, unless Gosei was willing to give away her exact position, it seems unlikely they would ever find her unless she wanted them to. Troy eventually led them in the conclusion they all knew would come.

"I need to go home." He told them. "Um...We'll meet here tomorrow around midday?"

"That sounds good." Emma agreed sadly. She wanted to go looking for Gia, she really did, but she knew that doing so at this hour would only put her in danger. Gia could take care of herself for the most part, and if she didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be. She had no choice but to wait until Gia wanted to talk to them.

"Fine." Jake replied. Noah just nodded too. With that, they all got up and headed out. Troy escorted Emma home, knowing that she, more than the others, was completely distraught at the idea of Gia being on her own. Jake stopped Noah as they walked away from the mall.

"Noah..."

"I can't believe it." Noah sighed. "I can't believe my site did this."

"You can't blame yourself." Jake told him. "The scumbag that did this, he's the one to blame."

"I just...I just wanted to create something great." Noah said, a couple of tears coming to his eyes. No one knew how much he invested emotionally in his work, only Jake knew that he really cared about it. To him, the Harwood Social Hub was his Sunflowers, it was his Nutcracker Suite. It was something he hoped to leave the city once he went on to bigger and better things. That had been corrupted by someone using it as a sledgehammer to smash one of his best friends' lives to smithereens. Jake grabbed him.

"You did everything you could, it's not your fault that some asshole decided to put all Gia's personal stuff up there for the world to see." Jake told him. "You did what you could."

"But..."

"Listen, if you want to do something constructive, backtrack the signal...or...whatever you call it." Jake told him. "Find out who did this."

"Why?" Noah asked him.

"Do you really need to ask?" Jake asked him, tensing his fist. Noah just looked at him.

"Uh...you do realise what this means right?" Noah asked. "If Gia is...you know...then...it's not like this will change her mind."

"Do I look like I care?" Jake asked aggressively. "Find out who did this."

Noah had never seen Jake so angry, ever since the day some kid in Grade School had taken his Red Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger action figure. Jake had returned it that afternoon, but the kid involved had ended up at the bottom of a flight of stairs needing hospital treatment, and Jake had ended up being suspended for a week. As jovial and kind-hearted as he was, there was an evil side to the Black Ranger few people other than Noah knew about that was best left undisturbed. Looking into his eyes, Noah could see that edge starting to come into him.

"I'll...um..." He stammered. "I'll work on it."

"Alright kids, I like you all, but now I really must insist." Ernie stated as he came to the table. "We closed some time ago, it is time for you all to go home."

"We will...thanks for having us Ernie." Troy stated as they all got up and left. Ernie opened the shutter just enough for them to duck and leave the shop, before closing it again.

Ernie had only been in business about four years, but already he had seen a lot. People didn't seem to realise how much he heard. He constantly heard the problems of kids from all around the city in his shop. People had a habit of talking without any real mind as to the fact he was around. Not even this group, the group he took special care of.

While he was sure none of them realised, they weren't as subtle as they thought, and did sometimes say things within his earshot. He already knew that they were the Rangers. After the Jordan incident, he had figured it out when some of them objected to his assessment of their contribution to the war. The fact was though, he had done his military service back home. He knew what it meant to be in a combat situation. He knew that it was difficult to talk about. He had already decided it was best to just let them be and give them somewhere they could unwind and just be kids.

As he closed up after them, he too worried about Gia. It concerned him how she had run off. He had no idea where she went, or what she was doing. He had an I-phone, so he had logged on and found out what all the fuss was about. He knew why she was now the hot-topic in town.

He gathered up his recycling bag, something Emma had hammered on constantly about until he agreed to, and made his way out back. He noticed as he opened the door that it was raining heavily.

He steadied himself, before running out, and opening the recycling dumpster quickly, throwing the bag inside. It was only as he was running back inside he noticed a sound. It was someone crying.

He turned around, and saw a pair of feet sticking out from behind a dumpster, and started to make his way over. Hearing the sobbing, he no longer cared about the rain. He finally rounded it, seeing that Gia was sitting there, with a sports bag and a rucksack beside her, crying. She was soaked to the bone, her clothes clinging to her. Her make-up was running, meaning she had distinctive balck lines running down her face. She looked up to him, sobbing.

"Dad kicked me out." She sniffed. "I...I...I couldn't think where else to go."

"Come inside, you'll catch your death." Ernie instructed her, grabbing her bags. "Get inside."

Gia didn't have much of a choice. Ernie helped her up, and took her inside, shutting the horrendous weather outside behind them.


	6. Reactions

At midday, just as they had agreed, the Rangers assembled outside Ernie's Brainfreeze. They all had the same thought in their heads, the one that had kept them awake all night. None of them had seen Gia since she had run out of the store the previous day.

"Have you heard anything?" Troy asked Emma, taking point on the search. Emma just shook her head sadly. It was natural to ask her, if she didn't use her morpher to communicate, then it would likely be Emma she called for help.

"I haven't heard anything." Emma told them. "Noah...?"

"There were a few things on the website but none from her." He answered sadly. "I deleted them."

"Jake?" Troy asked. Jake didn't say a word, he just shook his head, but they could all see he was tense. It was becoming clear to them that what he had felt for Gia was a lot more than just a crush. He was taking the fact that someone had attacked her like this very personally, and they could all see he was pretty close to breaking point. Ernie came up to them.

"Ah, my favourite customers." He remarked. "Perhaps you would like some coffee?"

"Sorry Ernie, but..."

"You misunderstand. It is on the house." He interrupted Troy. The Rangers all looked around each other, and back to Ernie. It was his way of letting them know it was best to stay at the cafe, while not saying anything out loud. They just nodded and followed him inside.

As they sat in a booth in the corner, as Ernie indicated them to do, he leant down close to them.

"She came to me last night, she is in my apartment upstairs." He informed them. "She is safe and well, I assure you."

"Thanks Ernie." Troy said gratefully as they all breathed a sigh of relief. "We appreciate it."

"Um...just a question, why exactly did she crash here?" Jake asked. "Why didn't she go home?"

"Just be grateful we know where she is and that she's safe." Emma replied nervously. She couldn't look any of the guys in the eye. The night had been pure torture for her. Although Noah had deleted Gia's journal from his site, she had read a significant portion of it, and it left her with some very real and difficult questions about what she really knew about Gia.

They'd been friends since kindergarten. On her first day, Emma was the only one that went to the freaky girl in the corner that just wanted to play with blocks that the other kids didn't understand. She had been with Gia throughout all of their major developments. Gia was the one that explained to her what it meant when she had her first period. Emma's mother had died when she was a little girl, so she didn't really have an adult female role model. For the most part, she had always used Gia for that. Whenever she wasn't sure about something, Gia seemed to have the answer.

Now though, she was beginning to wonder about a lot of things. According to her journal, Gia had known that she was a lesbian since she was thirteen. For five long years, she had managed to lie convincingly to her about who she really was. She didn't know the full extent of it, but she also knew that for some time, Gia saw her differently, she saw her as a potential partner.

It was only a week or so previously that she had gone to Gia's place. She had told her that her dad had been laid off as a cost-cutting measure because of the recession, and so her family had down-graded their home to free up collateral until he could find a new job. She had been more than a little surprised by how much of the stuff she'd given her that Gia kept when they moved. The pyrite sample she gave her when she was twelve, the charcoal drawing of a butterfly she gave her for her tenth birthday, the Conch shell she had given her two years ago when they found it on the beach...

All of that now held a different meaning. Emma had given those things to Gia out of love. Not romantic love, but the kind of love she was sure she'd have for a sister. She had given Gia those things out of friendship. Now though, she was beginning to wonder what Gia had taken them as. Did she believe that Emma shared her feelings?

"Thanks Ernie." Troy repeated as he came to their table with a tray of coffee cups. None of them really drank coffee, it was just his way of approaching them without anyone thinking anything of it. "How is she?"

"She is resting." Ernie told them. "She is tired, and very upset."

"I can believe that." Noah sighed. He still couldn't forgive himself for the fact it was his website that someone had used to publically out Gia. He had never really thought about her the way other guys had. It wasn't that he didn't know she was attractive, it just wasn't his primary focus like it had been for others. He thought of her like a friend, or even a big sister. He wasn't certain Gia would remember it, but once in his freshman year, a couple of guys were picking on him because he was small and wore glasses. Gia had stepped in, and left them with a seriously bruised ego when she sent them packing. He had always held an admiration for her after that.

"Will you tell her we're here?" Troy asked. Ernie just nodded.

"I'll tell her." He informed them as he left. Just then, Noah's phone bleeped. He took it out, looking at it.

"I thought you'd taken it down." Emma commented.

"Um...it's not that." Noah replied. He didn't want them to know that he had set up a search programme to find the IP address of the guy who posted Gia's diary. Jake knew though, he was the one that asked him to do it. He grabbed Noah and pulled him from his seat.

"I just remembered, we need to go." Jake told them.

"But..."

"I have soccer practice." Jake interrupted Emma coldly. "Noah said he'd film my game and see if there was anything I could improve on."

With that, they left Emma and Troy to wait for Gia, presuming she felt confident enough to come down at all. As they got outside, Jake grabbed Noah.

"The name." He stated harshly. Noah didn't take it personally, they'd been best friends for years, but he knew when Jake was upset, he kind of lost the plot. It didn't happen often, Jake was generally an easy-going guy, and very little made him seriously angry, but his temper was an ugly beast that few ever really saw. When he lost it, the only safe thing to do was clear out and wait until his path of destruction was over.

"Jake..."

"Your phone bleeped, the search programme found a hit didn't it?" Jake demanded. "Don't lie to me."

"It tracked it down to a phone number." Noah informed him. "The file wa uploaded form an I-phone."

"Whose phone?" Jake demanded.

"Jake..."

"I said whose phone?" Jake reiterated, shoving Noah into the wall. If it wasn't for their years of friendship, Noah would have been angered by that, but right now, all he felt was fear. He was frightened when Jake got this way. He'd only seen it a couple of times, but he knew that when Jake got this way, bad things happened. "Well?"

"Um..." Jake noticed Noah's phone in his hand and ripped it away. He held Noah away as he checked the screen, noticing a number on it. He figured it was the number of the phone the diary had been uploaded from. He hit the dial button and held the phone to his ear as he held Noah against the wall.

"Hey there, this is Dean. I'm not answering right now, probably because I'm with a chick so leave a message." The answer message replied. Jake's face became like stone as he turned back to Noah, handing him back the phone.

"Dean." He stated. Noah just looked at him.

"Dean?" Noah asked. "As in...the Dean Gia was meant to be going on a date with last night?"

Jake didn't answer. He just strode off purposefully. Noah picked up his belongings and started to run after him, knowing that he was about to do something he'd regret.

Emma sat with Troy, hoping that Gia would come downstairs to speak to them. She still wasn't sure what she'd say, but she knew that she had a lot of questions for her. How long had she felt that way about her? Did she do anything to encourage it without knowing? Most importantly, she wanted to know why Gia had never seen fit to tell her. She'd shared everything with Gia. When her mother died, and all her teachers and all the adults kept hounding her, telling her to be happy, and that she was in a better place, Gia was the one that was just...there. She didn't tell her to be happy. She didn't tell her how to feel or what to think. She just listened. She let Emma cry when she felt like it, and instead of just telling her that her mom was in a better place, she just reminded her of all the great memories she had with her.

"I guess it's a pretty big shock." Troy commented, causing Emma to look up. "I mean...I've never known anyone that was...well...you know...at least...I don't think I have."

"I'm fine." Emma stated. "It's Gia I'm worried about."

"Still, it has to be a big thing for you too." Troy told her. "I mean, I don't have a problem with the fact she's gay. It's just part of who she is. But...how she feels about you?"

"Can we not talk about this?" Emma asked him.

"Don't you think maybe it would be better if you figured out...?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Emma snapped, before storming out. Troy just left a five dollar bill, even though Ernie had assured them the coffees were complimentary, and went after her.

In another part of town, at the school gym, the basketball team were practicing. Dean, the captain, shot a perfect basket from well behind the half-way line. The others just whooped in approval.

"Wow, you do that against Silver Hills and we'll toast their asses!" One of them stated.

"Hey, his judgement can't be that good." One of them teased him. "He did ask out Gia, the town..."

"Hey, how was I to know?" Dean asked. "Of course, once I heard, I called it off. I don't need to be someone's beard."

"Hey, check it out." One of them stated as Jake stormed into the gym. Noah came in a second later, struggling to keep up. "Hey, what are you...?"

Jake didn't bother responding with words. Instead, he ploughed straight through the team, smashing his fist straight into Dean's face. Although he still had the band-aid on, his nose hadn't been broken. Jake made sure it sure as hell was now.

The others tried to keep Jake away, but he was in a full-blown psychosis. Anyone that dared to touch him was quickly left lying in a heap as he mounted Dean and started to rain in harsh punches anywhere he could find room to land them. He let out a hellish yell as he continued to beat him, with every intention of not stopping until he was just a bloody smear on the floor. Noah had to grab him in a full-nelson and drag him away, lacing his legs around him on the floor to separate him from Dean.

"What...what the...?"

"You know what this is about you piece of shit!" He snapped as Noah finally released him. "That journal was private!"

"Well, why don't we ask ourselves a serious question?" Dean asked him, cradling his nose. "Are you really upset about the journal going up? Or the fact you just learned you wasted two years sniffing after a..."

He didn't finish. Jake lunged forward with so much force that the combined effort of Noah and the basketball team still couldn't keep him from hitting him with a right hook that almost tore his head clean off. Noah moved in front of Jake, starting to shove him away.

"Tend to him." Noah told them. He hated what Dean had done, and a part of him wanted to just let Jake go and give him what he deserved. Hell, part of him wanted to join in, but his main concern was getting Jake away before things got any more serious. "Jake, let's go!"

"You scumbag, I'll tar you apart!" Jake roared as Noah all but bodily lifted him to remove him from the room. In this state of mind, there was little else he cold do to keep Jake from getting himself into some very serious trouble.


	7. Emma's Confusion

Monday morning rolled around, and things were still difficult. None of the Rangers had seen or spoken to Gia since she had run out of the Brainfreeze. Ernie had kept them updated, letting them know that she was still at his apartment. He insisted on keeping Gia's confidence, and so he didn't go into details about why she was still there, he just assured them that she was safe.

Gia came from the spare room, with none of her usual confidence and swagger. She had locked herself up in the apartment since Ernie had taken her in; barely even leaving the room he had let her use. She had kept her morpher on, knowing better than to risk being out of communication if any monsters attacked, but she had switched off her phone, unable to take the constant stream of messages that were being sent to her. Most were from her friends, begging her to talk to them, and asking how she was, but there were others too, from people who had discovered her number and couldn't wait until she returned to school to take their shots at her.

She knew that this would happen, it was the reason she was terrified to admit to anyone what she really was. While the West Coast was known for being reasonably liberal in its political leanings, and homosexuality was, for the most part, accepted, with there even being talk of a law in the process of being passed at some point allowing same-sex couples to marry, it didn't mean that everyone was ready to accept it. School especially was incredibly cruel. She had heard that a couple of years previously, one kid had been tormented so ruthlessly that he'd ended up transferring out of school for his own safety. The fact was that kids were often not the most enlightened of creatures, especially teenagers. When the hormones kicked in, the brains stopped working.

"Good morning." Ernie greeted her. "You're going to have to move quickly if you want to get to school on time."

"I'm not going." Gia muttered. Ernie just looked at her sympathetically.

"Well, I suppose I'm not that surprised you can't face it." He replied. "You can stay here for today..."

"No, I mean...I'm not going back." Gia replied. Ernie just put down the pan he was using to make their breakfast and sighed. He wanted to support Gia, to help her get through this difficult time. It pained him to see how this had hurt her, how much it had taken from her. He just looked at her.

"You would really throw away all the hard work you've done over this?" He asked her.

"What else can I do Ernie?" She implored him as she sat on the couch. "You saw what those kids were like the other day. You know they'll never leave me alone. Do you know how many people have sent me messages already? I've been too scared to go online, never mind go out of the door!"

"You can't hide in here for the rest of your life." Ernie told her. "I won't deny that what happened in the cafe had to be difficult, but you can't push your friends away."

"Dad kicked me out!" She reminded him. "I don't have anywhere to go!"

"You can stay here as long as you wish." He said with a smile. "But not if you intend to simply hide away. Your friends need you, and you need them. In time, the other children will find more interesting things to talk about."

"Yeah, that feels like that's just around the corner." Gia said sarcastically. Ernie just smiled.

"Well, if you are going to take a little time, then perhaps you can help me for a little while." He suggested.

"Ernie, no offence, but I hardly think waiting tables is going to keep me away from the other kids." Gia told him. Ernie just came across, putting a plate down in front of her.

"I have plenty of other ways you can help me." He told her. "I have a whole store room full of fruit that will need to be chopped."

Gia just took a deep breath. Ernie had taken her in when no one else would. She couldn't exactly refuse to help him considering the fact he hadn't asked for anything in return. She had no real money for anywhere else. She just nodded in response.

"I'll be down in a little while once I've cleaned up." She told him. Ernie just picked up his cutlery, starting to eat.

"I'll call the school and let them know you aren't up to coming in today." He told her. "Enjoy your breakfast."

In another part of town, Troy was on his run. He was always heavily into his training, but especially since they had been chosen as Rangers, he was now taking it a lot more seriously. He had an arrangement with the gym teachers to allow him to use the shower when he got to school, allowing him to run to school. He kept the majority of the training for when the team would get together after school, but he always felt that as leader, it was his responsibility to do everything they did, and half as much again, just to make sure he was on his best form.

He still hadn't heard from Gia, and while he had tried to catch up to Emma when she left the cafe, she had gotten to her BMX and rode off into the woods. As fit as he was, there was no way he could keep up with her on foot. He was obviously concerned about Gia, but he had noticed something that the others hadn't. Everyone was so focused on Gia, and what she was going through, they had forgotten that she wasn't the only one to receive a huge surprise.

Emma had been completely oblivious to the way Gia felt about her. She had already told him that much, but so far she hadn't spoken to anyone about what it meant for her. She had just discovered that not only had Gia kept such a big part of herself hidden from her for five years, but she had also kept the fact that she was in love with her a secret. He could only imagine how confused Emma had to be about what she now knew.

Troy had only really known Gia a matter of weeks, so it didn't really mean too much was different for him. Jake and Noah, while they had known Gia, he got the impression it was more a case of them being aware of her than really being particularly close to her. While Jake no doubt had a bit of a bruised ego once he found out his pursuit of her had been an exercise in futility, again it didn't really mean much of a difference to them. But thinking about it, Emma had to be questioning a lot of what she had taken as read for most of her formative years.

He paused as he heard something on the wind. Someone nearby was singing, but it was a song he had never heard before. It seemed to be an original song, and the way it was sung, he could tell that someone was singing from the heart. He looked around, and he saw Emma's BMX chained up to a tree a little way from the path. Looking around, he satisfied himself that he was on his own, and followed the sound of the music.

A little while later, he found Emma by some trees, and confirmed that it was her singing. He couldn't believe that she could sing like that. He knew that she was artistically inclined, he had seen her photographs, and he knew that she also did drawings at times, but she was so self-conscious that she rarely allowed anyone to know that she expressed herself artistically. This was the first time he could remember hearing her sing, and given how far she was out of her way, he had to think it was probably deliberate.

As she observed the plants, she sang contentedly. It was only as she turned around, she saw Troy standing a little way off. She suddenly stopped, and started to shift uncomfortably, hiding her face with her hair. Troy had seen her do that before, she had a habit of trying to stay out of view; something that he was sure was creating some difficulty right now. While Gia's journal made her feelings very clear, the one thing it didn't do was make clear where Emma stood. The fact was that it had placed her in a difficult position too with the other kids.

"Troy!" She yelped nervously. "Um...I didn't know you were there."

"Sorry, I just got here." Troy told her. "Wow Emma, you're an incredible singer."

"Thanks." She replied quietly. He made his way closer, hoping she wouldn't run off again. Looking at her body language, he could see that it was a thought that had occurred to her.

"You know, I sometimes come out quiet places like this to think." Troy said, hoping to encourage her to speak.

"The song...my mom used to sing it to me when I was a little girl." She told him. "She'd bring me out here, and she'd sing that song. I guess it's where my love of nature came from. Whenever I'm out here, when I sing that song...I feel close to her."

"What happened?" He asked her.

"Cancer." She answered sadly. "She passed away when I was eleven. When I came back from the funeral, Gia was waiting to take me into the woods. We just spent a few hours out here, just...here. Gia didn't make me talk or try and tell me not to cry. She was just...there."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your mom. I can't imagine what that must have felt like." Troy replied sympathetically. "You left pretty quickly yesterday..."

"I really don't want to talk about this." Emma told him.

"Don't you think it might be an idea to figure out how you feel before you see Gia?" He asked her. "I have to imagine it's a pretty confusing time."

"It's just...I don't know what to think anymore." Emma stated. "She's lied to me for five years! She lied right to my face for all that time!"

"You've seen what this has done to her." Troy admitted. "She was probably just scared."

"She's scared?" Emma asked him. "I know this is rough on her, but do you have any idea how humiliating all this is? I've had kids ask me about us all day! I can't answer my phone now!"

"Emma..."

"I'm not gay Troy!" Emma put down flatly. "I never have been! I've...I've just...never found anyone special. Now because of that stupid journal, everyone thinks..."

"Emma, she never said you were." Troy reminded her.

"She never said I wasn't either." Emma told him. "Now, everyone thinks that because I haven't had a boyfriend, and we were always together, we were...you know...together."

"You're upset, I get that." Troy told her. "But, maybe you should just try to take this as what it is. She's attracted to you. It's a compliment."

"But..."

"Emma, I heard you, you're upset because Gia didn't tell you. You're upset because a few people got the wrong idea because of Gia's diary. But the one thing that hasn't changed is that she's still the girl that was there for you." He told her. "If nothing else, are you really willing to lose her friendship over this?"

"I...I can't..."

"Emma, she probably thought you'd end up feeling like this." Troy told her. "Have you ever felt so intensely about someone, that you'd do anything just to be near them, even if you know that they don't see you the same way?"

Emma felt his arm around her and had to suppress a smile. She just nodded.

"I guess...I guess I do kind of get that." She stated. "I really need to talk about this with her don't I?"

"That would be an idea." Troy told her. "Now, we should probably be going. We don't want to be late for school."

Back at the Brainfreeze, Ernie was setting up the morning trade. He didn't do much business early on, usually lunch time and after school were his busiest times, but he always opened early for the morning crowd going to work. He could usually manage to sell a few coffees. As he was wiping down the counter, a man in a suit came in.

"Hi, I'd like a coffee to go." He said, beginning to count out some change. "I've got a job interview in a little while, and I need to steady my nerves."

"Ah, the search for work, I'm glad it has been some time since I had to go through that." Ernie stated. "Times are difficult."

"You have no idea." The man stated. "I've been out of work since the factory downsized. It's been five months. It's gotten so bad I'm applying for jobs with half my salary that kids half my age can do."

"Well, I wish you well in your search." Ernie told him. "Mr..."

"Moran." He stated. Ernie's face fell as he heard the name. Mr Moran was a tall, thin man, with pale skin and soft brown hair. Mr Moran was about to hand him some money.

"No, that won't be necessary." He announced. "Your daughter is in the back. I just thought you should know she is safe."

"I'm sorry?" Mr Moran stated.

"Your daughter came to me two days ago." Ernie repeated. "I understand you had some form of argument..."

"I really don't think that's any of your business." Mr Moran stated. "Now, I just want to pay for my coffee..."

"It is my business when a young girl is thrown out onto the streets with nowhere to go!" Ernie snapped. "Now, keep your money."

"I don't need charity." Mr Moran said coldly. "And I don't have a daughter."

"You don't mean that sir!" Ernie stated.

"I really do. I didn't raise some...some...freak of nature." Mr Moran stated. "She was dead to me when she chose..."

"No sir, you are wrong! My daughter is dead to ME!" Ernie yelled at him. "Before I came to this country, before I left home, my wife and child were killed by an IED, because some arrogant, self-important man believed that he knew better than the God he professed to love."

Mr Moran just stood, unable to answer. Ernie picked up the change and thrust it back into his hand.

"Keep your money, I want nothing from you." Ernie said in disgust. "Kindly do not come back."

Mr Moran just turned and left the store. Gia came in from the back, oblivious to the discussion that had just taken place. She was holding a lime.

"Ernie, sorry but I wasn't really paying attention." She told him. "Did you want the limes cut into slices or wedges?"

"Limes are wedges, lemons are slices." He told her. She could see the tense look on his face.

"Is...everything alright?" Gia asked him.

"I just had an unpleasant customer." He told her. "It will be fine."

"Um...OK, if you're sure." Gia replied. "I'll just go and cut these."

With that, she left. Ernie clenched his fists tightly. He had hoped that Gia was exaggerating. He had hoped that perhaps she was mistaken about his attitude. Given what had happened to his family, he couldn't imagine anyone willingly turning their back on their family.


	8. Dizchord's Concert

Noah got to school, looking around very cautiously as he entered the building. It had only been a day since Jake had viciously beaten Dean into a bloody pulp. While he was perfectly confident that if Dean would even show up today, he was sure that he would be looking for payback, and since he doubted that he would be in a hurry to face Jake again, he didn't doubt for one minute that he would be an appealing target.

He and Jake had walked to school every day since they started going to Harwood High. Jake only lived about two streets further from the school than he did, so he always stopped by to walk with Jake at eight AM like clockwork. When he hadn't that morning, Noah just went on ahead without him. He knew that if he was late, there was likely a reason.

He went to Jake's locker, hoping to find him there, but he hadn't gotten there yet. Looking around, he finally saw Jake arriving with his dad. It looked like he had been driven to school; something his dad hadn't done since he was seven. His right hand was very heavily bandaged, and by the look on Mr Holling's face, and the way Jake walked away after his dad talked to him, he could tell that something had happened. He wasn't really that surprised; he doubted that it would be possible for Jake to keep it hidden from his parents for long. His clothes had been covered in Dean's blood.

"Your dad doesn't look happy." Noah commented as Jake got to his locker. The Black Ranger just nodded quietly as he fumbled with the combination to his locker. Noah could see that he was struggling, and stepped in. They trusted each other so much; they knew each other's combinations. Noah would never think anything of it if he got to his locker to find a book missing, so long as Jake left a note letting him know he had it, likewise, Jake never cared if Noah helped himself to one of his videogames as long as he extended the same courtesy.

"I'm grounded for the next two weeks." Jake informed him. "He's going to drop me at school, and pick me up afterwards every day."

"Wow, that kind of sucks." Noah stated.

"It's not as bad as the next part." Jake told him. "He called Dean's parents. Not only is he paying for his medical expenses, something which really made him love me by the way, they called a meeting with the school."

"What does the school have to do with it?" Noah asked. "It happened out of hours. They've got nothing to do with it."

"It's for neutral ground." Jake sighed. "Dad told me I have to apologise to him."

"Really?" Noah asked him. Jake just took his books from Noah, looking decidedly put out.

"Yes, I have to apologise to that creep!" Jake stated grumpily. "Seriously, after everything he did, and I have to apologise to him?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it." Noah told him. "People like Dean always get theirs in the end. Besides, the way you went after him, it could have been worse. His parents could have called the cops."

"Gosei and Troy are going to have a field day with this." Jake grumbled. "I must be the first super hero to be GROUNDED. I mean seriously, did anyone ever say to Green Lantern 'Hey Hal, you hurt Sinestro's feelings, we're going to dock your allowance for a month?'"

Before Noah could answer to remind him that as far as anyone knew all the other Ranger teams had been adults, so probably didn't have to deal with their parents, Troy and Emma arrived.

"Hey." Emma told them. "Have either of you seen Emma?"

"I stopped in at Ernie's on the way." Noah told them. "He said she couldn't face it today. He said he'd try and get her to come tomorrow. Truth be told, he seemed kind of distant, like he was really upset about something."

"I think I know what it is." Emma replied. "I called her place last night to find out what the story is. Her dad just said she doesn't live there anymore and hung up."

"You're not seriously saying he kicked her out are you?" Noah asked incredulously. Emma just nodded sadly.

"It makes sense; why else would she still be staying at Ernie's?" She asked. Jake tensed up again.

"Dean has so much to answer for." Jake stated angrily.

"We can worry about this later." Troy stated, hearing the bell.

"Um...small problem with that." Jake stated. "I'm kind of grounded, so I won't be able to go to training after school for a while."

"Would it have anything to do with your hand and the fact Dean's face looks like week old meatloaf?" Emma asked, noting the bandage. Jake turned around, seeing Dean sheepishly fishing some books out of his locker, and leaving without a word.

"Kind of." Jake responded. He could see the way Emma and Troy were looking at him and rolled his eyes. "Seriously guys, I'm getting enough crap at home. Can you just leave it?"

"I guess we'll have to talk about what we're going to do at lunch time." Troy stated. "Anyway, we should be getting to class."

With that, Jake closed over his locker and followed the others to class. Noah put his arm around him, giving him a little smile.

"For what it's worth, I didn't love your method, but I thought what you did was pretty cool." Noah told him. "Don't worry about it; Dean's not going to try anything like that again."

"Wait...you've got that devious look in your eye." Jake stated. "You've done something."

"You could say that." Noah stated. "Trust me."

Meanwhile, up on the orbiting flagship of the Warstar fleet, Admiral Malkor, Creepox and Vrak were busy formulating plans. So far, they had come close, but had just come up short each time. Their latest plan to remove the Rangers before the invasion was to get Beezara to sow chaos among the team. Unfortunately, the plan had failed, and in the process left them short of another ally.

"I still don't know why you rely on such complex schemes." Creepox commented. "Why don't we send a powerful warrior to simply crush them?"

"Ah, the brute force approach." Vrak chuckled sarcastically. "Why doesn't it surprise me that a creature such as you has only one idea how to do anything?"

"Shall we perhaps keep score? So far four of our monsters have failed. If memory serves...weren't three of them your idea?" Creepox taunted him. Vrak felt rage building up inside him. Sadly, Creepox's taunt, while misplaced, was factually correct. So far more of his schemes had failed than Creepox's but largely because Admiral Malkor had chosen more of his plans than Creepox's.

"Perhaps Creepox has a point." Malkor mused. "Is there any way to strengthen our creatures?"

"Perhaps we can attain two objectives at once." Vrak stated, thinking it over. "I have someone in mind that can strengthen our creatures AND weaken the Rangers."

"Really?" Creepox asked. "And who would that be?"

"Dizchord." Vrak stated. Malkor just growled, hearing the name.

"I know, I know his music is terrible, but you can't deny the effect it has on our Loogies." Vrak stated. "It also resonates at a frequency that our research indicates should cause humans intense pain. If we can construct a large enough amplifier, then his music could affect all the humans on Earth!"

"That...that actually doesn't sound like a bad plan." Creepox stated. Vrak just looked at him suspiciously. Why would he support one of his plans? "And since Vrak is so confident in its success, perhaps he would put his money where his mouth is and lead this mission personally."

Vrak saw his game now. He had put the idea in Malkor's mind now; he couldn't back out without appearing weak.

"Of course, I would not propose such an idea if I wasn't certain of its value." Vrak stated. "If you wish it..."

"Perhaps having one of my competent followers oversee the construction of the amplifier would improve our chances." Malkor stated. "Go with them Vrak. Let's see if Dizchord is useful for something other than giving me a headache."

Back on Earth, Gia was in the Brainfreeze, sitting idly at one of the tables. It was the painfully quiet period between the early morning, when a few passing people would buy coffee, and lunchtime, when the place would be filled with kids. It gave her some time on her own when she didn't have to hide from everyone.

She checked her watch, realising that she had sat there a little longer than she had intended to. Pretty soon, other kids would be coming to the cafe, including her friends. She looked down as she heard her morpher bleeping. Fortunately, Ernie was playing some awful music so loud that he hadn't heard it. She pulled out the morpher, holding it to her ear so she could hear.

"Gosei?" She asked.

"Gia, it has been some time since you checked in." Gosei told her. "We have matters to discuss."

"Um...this isn't really a good time." Gia told him, looking to where Ernie was dancing joyfully. She didn't know why he was in such a bad mood earlier, but he had told her that music...at least what HE called music, always cheered him up. "Can I..."

Before she could finish, she found herself in a flash of light, appearing in the command centre. She just sighed.

"OK, I guess not." Gia commented, putting her morpher away. "What is it Gosei?"

"You have not maintained contact." He answered. "Our sensors indicate that you have not even been to school..."

"Wait, you're...you're spying on me?" She asked him.

"My mentor taught me that the life of a Ranger is a dangerous one. He saw many of those under his care end up in enemy hands or in danger when they were isolated." Gosei told her. "I think it's only prudent to keep track of my Rangers."

"I've...I've been hiding." She admitted. "Someone found out something about me, something that they told everyone else. I haven't been able to face anyone since."

"You are speaking of your love for Emma." Gosei answered. Gia just paused as she heard him say this.

"But...but...how?" She stammered. "Wait, have you been tracking...?"

"I knew long before your secret was published on the internet." He assured her. "You forget that I have vision that goes beyond the mundane. I must always be aware of the capabilities of my Rangers, and so I regularly scan your vital functions."

"Vital functions?" Gia asked him.

"Any time you saw Emma, your pupils would dilate." He explained. "Your respiratory system would stop for a second, and your heart rate would increase. Your galvanic skin response would alter...since it only happened around Emma; it was not difficult to assess what it meant."

"So you knew?" Gia asked him. She then paused for a moment as she thought about something. "Wait, you knew, and you kept me here...you...YOU USED ME!"

"I did what I needed to for the mission." He replied. "I knew that Beezara's venom created a strong anger in you that made it impossible to fight with focus. I knew that only an emotion even stronger than that anger could break the hold her venom had on you."

"You chained me up, held me here against my will!" Gia snarled. "All the while Emma was being beaten to within an inch of her life...all to make a point?"

"You believe that having others know this about you has weakened you. That now you are different, but you are not. This has always been a part of you, something that you know." He stated. "And as the battle with Beezara shows, it does not make you weaker. If anything it makes you stronger. Now, you can just be honest with those you care about the most."

Gia could see the logic in his plan, but she still couldn't get over his deception. He had used her, tortured her with the feelings she wasn't yet ready to share with her best friend to manipulate her into doing what he wanted. She felt her morpher in her hand, and with all the strength she had, she threw it at the massive face in the wall, where it crashed into the metal of the face Gosei showed the team.

"I am NOT some weapon to be used!" She screamed at him. "If you like to read people, if you think you're so great at controlling people, try figuring out what I'm feeling right now!"

"You feel betrayed..."

"Keep your damn morpher and send me home!" Gia demanded. "I don't want any part of this anymore!"

"Gia, you are needed..."

"What if I don't want to just be some tool for someone that's too scared to show us his face? Who hides behind some statue like the Wizard of Oz?" She demanded. "You say that being honest with myself will make me stronger, but you hide yourself. To me, that makes you a coward and a hypocrite. Now...send me home."

"Not now." He told her.

"What?" Gia shrieked. "You're kidnapping me again?"

"I am afraid other matters require my attention." Gosei told her, pulling up a viewing screen and showing her Dizchord setting up in the city. "If this is your final decision, then I will send you home once..."

Gia walked across and picked up her morpher.

"Send me to them." She stated.

"I believed you were done." Gosei stated.

"Just because I don't want to see my friends hurt doesn't mean I'm changing my mind." Gia told him. "You can look for my replacement once we're finished."

Back in the city, Jake and Noah had made their way to the Brainfreeze for lunch. While strictly speaking it was a violation of his grounding, they knew that Jake's dad would likely never find out. He tended to eat at his office, and they figured it would be a while before he would be allowed to go to the Brainfreeze whenever he wanted. They got there, finding Ernie still blasting out music.

"It's pretty loud in here." Jake commented. "Hey Ernie, would you mind turning that down a little?"

Ernie just shrugged and turned the music down a little. He didn't really think the music was particularly loud, so far Gia hadn't complained. Still, he had a business to run, so he needed to be mindful of his customers' comfort. When he turned down the music though, everyone in the cafe clutched their ears as an incredible racket assaulted them. It was incredibly painful. Eventually, Ernie turned the music back up to drown it out. Noah pulled out his morpher, seeing the lights flashing, but barely able to hear it. He held it right up to his ear, sticking his finger in his other ear to block out as much of the background noise as he could.

"Gosei, what's up?" Noah asked. "Is it something to do with that noise?"

"It does." Gosei announced. "A new monster named Dizchord has begun playing music..."

"Music?" Noah asked sarcastically.

"It operates at a frequency that causes humans intense physical pain." Gosei explained. "Vrak is with him, attempting to set up an amplifier that will allow his music to affect the whole world."

"We can't let that happen." Noah stated. "Are Emma and Troy...?"

"They were a lot closer to Dizchord when his concert began." He told them. "They will take some time to recover. Gia is on her way."

"Gia?" Noah asked, looking around. "Isn't she here?"

"There will be time for explanations later." He answered. "Go!"

"It's a shame we can't bring that monster here." Jake complained. "Ernie's music is pretty horrendous, but at least it drowns out that other crap."

"Jake...you just gave me an idea." Noah told him, taking out his I-pod. Jake saw this, and saw where he was going with his train of thought, grateful that he liked to listen to music while he worked out and had an I-pod with him as well.

"I like the way you think." Jake told him. "Come on, let's go!"


	9. No Encores

Gia appeared in the middle of the city, already morphed. She was already starting to regret her decision, Dizchord's music was hellish. The helmet muffled some of the sound, but not enough to stop hearing it a distinctly uncomfortable experience. She gritted her teeth tightly as she prepared for battle.

Loogies were already assembled in the main street, and they were...to be honest she wasn't really sure what they were doing. She could only presume that since they were moving in time to what Dizchord laughingly termed as music, it was meant to be dancing of some description. She just made her way into the street, clearing a path for some of the citizens with her tiger claw.

She had to think of the irony in what she was doing. She was acting on behalf of someone she didn't trust, who had used and betrayed her without a single thought, all to save citizens, many of whom had probably already cast judgement on her and despised her for something she couldn't change. It was a sick twist to the whole ordeal. She was here because her friends, people she had come to care about had been sent into battle without a replacement for her, and yet she was the first to arrive, meaning that she was fighting alone.

She suddenly found herself surrounded, a situation that shouldn't have bothered her, but she noticed something very odd. The Loogies were moving a lot faster than she remembered. They were coming at her in a rampant swarm, and more than anything, when they started to land blows, they were much stronger than she remembered. Their blows knocked the wind from her, and caused her to lose her composure. It was almost as if someone was super-charging enemies that should have given her very little trouble. She took a hard uppercut, rattling her teeth together, and causing her to flop backwards onto the ground.

She heard an explosion behind her and turned in time to see a Loogie that was about to strike her being taken down, and Jake's Snake Axe clattering to the ground. She saw Jake and Noah running towards her, laying down covering fire. As she watched them coming to her aid, she felt something she hadn't since all this had begun. She felt her heart lifting. Her friends were here, and they were here to help her.

"Gia! That thing's causing all this!" Jake screamed in a slightly tinny tone as he pointed up to the top of a building. She could see a bizarre creature with what looked vaguely like a pair of guitars strapped to its chest. She hated doing it, but she focused and realised they were right, he WAS responsible for the horrible music.

"Jake, where are...?" She noticed that he didn't respond to her. He had already run past her, and so she was behind him. She got the impression he couldn't hear her, but didn't know that was a deliberate thing, that he was playing loud music in his I-pod inside his helmet. "Noah, look out...!"

Her words quite literally fell on deaf ears. He didn't hear her, and so was scythed down from behind by one of the creatures. She quickly got the message. Somehow, they were blocking out the sound Dizchord was making, but that left them vulnerable in the respect they were now unable to hear commands, or sounds of danger coming at them. The time Troy had them train blindfolded, something he told them he had been taught by some crazy guy that worked in a Pizza place in Ocean Bluff, it had shown them the importance of their other senses. Without sight, it was hard to ignore that it was possible to detect danger purely by hearing it. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for the guys, meaning they now had tunnel vision. They could only perceive what they could see. Gia returned to the fight, hoping to help them before they were overwhelmed.

In another area of town, only a couple of streets away, Troy struggled to his feet. Dizchord's music was so destructive that he could hardly function. His senses were being assaulted by the din, making it hard to get his bearings. He looked to where Emma was on her knees, clutching her ears. As he got closer though, he noticed that she was humming. It was barely audible, but he could tell. He saw no pain in her eyes, and he realised what she was doing. She was blocking out the sound with her own song.

An idea came to him, and he pulled Emma to her feet.

"Emma, come with me." Troy told her as he pulled out his morpher. "Tensou, I need you to do something for me!"

Back at the site of the battle, the others had been doing well, but things took a sharp turn for the worse. Gia heard some heavy footsteps, and turned in time to see Vrak coming her way, smashing her down. He then ploughed through both of the guys dismissively. Noah and Jake held the sides of their heads.

"Damn, I've lost my music!" Jake complained.

"Me too!" Noah responded. "He must have smashed our I-pods with that attack!"

"Well, at least now you two can hear me!" Gia responded, getting up. "Who's this guy?"

"We have met before." Vrak stated. The Rangers all just stared at him.

"Wait...he looks a little like..." Noah started to say, observing him. "Vrak?"

"Wait, didn't he have that funky armour on the last time?" Jake asked. "What happened to that?"

Vrak just groaned.

"Just because all of you wear the same outfit day in day out doesn't mean we all have to!" He called out, blasting them to the ground. Noah just struggled on the ground.

"I...I change my clothes every day." He protested.

"And THAT's the most important thing to think about right now?" Gia asked. Just then, they heard something that cut through the din. Noah and Jake started to rise, finding their pain soothing. Gia did too, but more than that, she couldn't help grinning broadly. She recognised the song; it was one she had only ever known two people to sing.

"What the...?" Vrak started to say, only to receive a trio of blasts to the back from the other Rangers. They all watched as Troy helped Emma into the area, both of them morphed. He had Tensou route some power through her morpher to act as an amplifier, meaning that now Emma's song was starting to drown out Dizchord's.

"Emma?" Jake asked. "I didn't know she could sing."

"She's...she's incredible." Jake stammered as he listened. They saw the trees around her burst into bloom, an effect of the power channelling through her from Gosei. Troy slammed a card into his morpher.

"Tornatwister!" He called out, sending a tornado straight at Vrak. It picked him up, throwing him far from the battle site. Dizchord had seen enough, and leapt down from his vantage point to confront him.

"You're ruining my concert with that racket!" He complained. "I'll..."

Gia smashed him down with her Tiger Claw, before returning to her team. They all had their weapons at the ready.

"Let's make some sweet music." Jake stated as they assembled the Mega Blaster. By the time Dizchord was ready, he was staring down the business end of it.

"Oh sh..."

He was struck by the energy blast, which took him off his feet. He exploded before he hit the ground. The Rangers all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, at least that concert's over." Jake muttered. "I'd rather listen to One Direction than that guy again!"

"Well, the job's not quite done yet guys." Troy stated, gesturing to the amplifier. They all assembled behind him and fired again, destroying it completely. Noah looked up as he heard some squeaks and squeals, and saw Zombats descending. He just groaned as he saw them assemble around what was left of Dizchord.

"Aw man, he's coming back for an encore?" He complained. Gia just looked at him.

"Well, why don't we just show him to exit stage right?" She suggested as they all took out their Power Cards. "Gosei Great Megazord!"

Dizchord grew to massive size, but was quickly met by the Megazord. He turned to them and started to play, sending forth destructive sound waves.

"You interrupted my concert!" He screamed at them. "Now I'll make you pay!"

"Jeez, does this guy not realise he sucks?" Jake complained.

"That didn't stop Justin Bieber." Gia replied. "But it's about time we cut off this comeback tour."

"I couldn't agree more." Troy replied as he steadied the Megazord against the energy attack. "Victory Charge!"

The Rangers all took the controls, channelling their energy into it. The Megazord brought its sword in front of it, blocking the soundwave and started to stride forward through it.

"Wait...that...that's not possible...that's not fair!" Dizchord screeched, playing for all he was worth as the Zord started to glow with energy. He poured everything he had into the attack, but it just kept coming. "Vrak?"

"Sorry, looks like your support act has left the building." Troy stated as the sword was engulfed in energy. Raising it up, it sliced down through Dizchord. The alien fell to the ground one last time, before exploding, utterly destroyed. The Rangers all took a second to observe their handiwork.

"Um...does anyone feel a little guilty about all the bad puns?" Jake asked. They all just laughed, realising that he had a point.

"I guess we're letting the bad guys get to us more than we thought." Troy suggested. "Who wants to just get out of here before someone says..."

"Curtains down!" Jake called out. The others just glared at him and started throwing anything that wasn't nailed down. "What? Come on, it had to be done!"

"No, what has to be done is we need to get back to school." Emma reminded them. "Lunchtime's over, we'll be lucky to avoid a tardy slip!"

"And I'm already in enough trouble." Jake agreed. "Gosei, can you teleport us back to school?"

With that, he did as he was instructed.

Later in the day, Noah and Jake came into the Brainfreeze, having only marginally avoided a mark on their permanent record for being tardy. Fortunately, Mr Burley was so busy explaining why the Loch Ness Monster just HAD to be real, that he didn't notice them coming in. They sat down, at which Gia came over to them, carrying some ice-creams.

"My treat." She told them. "Look, I know..."

"It's alright, we know this is difficult." Troy told her. "I used to be bullied all the time, that's why my parents put me into karate."

"You were bullied?" Noah asked, seemingly surprised. Troy just shrugged. He wasn't especially talkative; he likely only mentioned it because he thought it would help Gia. They all noticed Dean walking in with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"So I guess Jake's had that meeting." Troy sighed. "He looks really pleased with himself."

"I just have to..."

"You might want to stick around for a moment." Noah said, taking Gia's wrist. "Trust me."

Dean sat down, and pulled out his I-pad, tapping a few keys. Eventually, it let out a hellish sound, the sound of Dizchord's song. He recoiled in horror as everyone stared at him. He shut off the song, but a second later it started up again. Ernie came over.

"If you must play that racket, kindly do so elsewhere!" Ernie warned him. "Otherwise, I will bar you!"

Dean just looked to his I-pad in confusion. Noah got up and walked over, shaking his head and tutting under his breath.

"Wow, it sounds like you're having problems." He stated. "If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say someone hacked your files, and replaced all of them with that God-awful song. You'd need a real computer genius to do that."

"You son of a..."

"Now, before you do something I guarantee you'll regret, I'll just say this. I have a back-up of everything that you used to have on this." Noah informed him. "Since you like putting people's personal stuff up on the net, I wonder how you'd feel if people knew what your middle name is? Or maybe if I told them that adorable little pet name your nana has for you?"

Dean started to glow red as Noah gave him a knowing smirk.

"It's not nice when someone threatens to air your laundry in public is it?" Noah asked him. "I'm not like you Dean, but if you try anything like this again, and believe me, I'll know...then you will regret it."

With that, Noah pulled out his I-phone and hit a function.

"I've e-mailed all your stuff back to you." He informed him. "Just remember what I said."

As he got back to the table, Troy and Gia just smiled. Gia especially seemed over the moon. She grabbed Noah, hugging him tightly.

"You...you were amazing!" She gasped. Noah just straightened himself out.

"My methods might not be as direct as Jake's, but I take care of people I care about." He informed her. "You're a great person Gia. I'll always have your back, just like I know you'll have mine."

She just looked down to her bag, which housed her morpher. She felt a little badly about her decision. She was still furious about Gosei's actions, but she knew her friends didn't deserve her abandoning them. She just looked back to them.

"Look, there's something I need to do." She told them. "But...I need to talk to you, and there's something we need to do. I'll contact you soon."

With that, she left the Brainfreeze, leaving them looking a little confused.

Back in the forest, Emma was back at her favourite spot, singing her song. She found it a little difficult, even with Gosei's amplification, she still had strained herself. She looked up as she heard another voice.

"So flowers bloom, bloom, and share your sweet perfume." Gia sang, coming over. Emma smiled as she put her arm around her and turned her towards the large tree she was standing under.

"The sweet Serenity, soothes my mind, soothes my soul." They chorused together. Emma looked to her.

"You..."

"I know I messed a lot of things up, but I know how important this tradition is to you." Gia told her, bending down and placing a flower at the foot of the tree. "Happy Birthday Mrs Goodall."

"Gia..."

"Can...Can you let me go first please?" Gia begged her. Emma just stood and waited for her to speak. "I...I'm sorry I didn't say anything. This is exactly what I was scared would happen."

"Gia..."

"I've...I've known what I feel for a long time, and I've come to terms with it." Gia explained. "It's not been easy, but I always...I never wanted to make anything difficult between us."

She reached forward, cradling Emma's cheek in her hand, a tear running down her face.

"I love you Emma, and I know you love me." Gia told her with a sad sigh. "But I know you'll never love me the way I want you to love me. That's just something I have to live with. I just hope that I won't lose you because of this."

"You'll never lose me." Emma assured her, feeling her friend's soft touch. This was the side Gia rarely showed anyone, the soft side, the side that Emma knew, the part that took things to heart. "The only thing that upset me was that I found out this way. That it became some...side-show."

"I know, it's..."

"I don't CARE that you're gay!" Emma assured her. "You were my best friend, the one that sang with me on mom's birthday long before any of this. I don't want to lose that person."

"You have no idea how glad I am to hear that!" Gia replied, reaching to hug her, but stopping herself and looking a little awkward. Emma finally bridged the gap, grabbing her in a tight hug.

"We'll still hug." Emma told her as they parted. "Just...nothing more alright?"

"Believe me, I've got the message there." Gia told her dejectedly.

"I really wish things could be different." Emma replied. "They're just...not."

"Well, like I said, that's something I just have to live with." Gia responded. "Friends is better than nothing."

As they walked away, Emma got a wicked little grin on her face.

"So, apparently I'm adorable when I get all klutzy?" She asked. Gia just hid her face.

"Please don't." Gia begged her. "Right now, we have something else to do."

Tensou was busy attending to some of his tasks in the command centre when the Rangers, all with the exception of Jake, who was still grounded, arrived. He saw them striding towards him purposefully, and moved aside.

"Gosei!" Troy called out. The statue just stayed inert. "Gosei, we want to talk, and that's not a request!"

The eyes of the statue lit up, indicating he was listening.

"Rangers..."

"Shut up! We talk, you listen!" Troy barked. "We know what you did to Gia!"

"I only did..."

"I said, I talk, you listen!" Troy interrupted him sharply. Gosei could see the others assembled around him and could see they were all ready to act. "What you did was out of line! You invaded her privacy, you used her heart, and you betrayed her trust!"

Gosei remained silent. All of those were true.

"We've already spoken, and Gia's decided her place is with us." He informed him. "But she's on the team for our sake, not yours!"

"I..."

"I'm not finished!" Troy interrupted him again angrily. "This thing will only work if there's trust, and you've already betrayed us once! If it happens again, you won't be looking for one new Ranger; you'll be looking for five."

With that, they all turned and walked away, teleporting out of the command centre. Tensou raced around in front of Gosei.

"Gosei..."

"They are finally a team." He announced. Tensou reversed a little.

"I'm sorry?" He asked.

"They were growing stronger with each battle as individuals, but teamwork has always been their greatest struggle." Gosei told him. "Now, they are united as one."

"They're united against you!" Tensou stated.

"But they are united nonetheless." He responded. "My methods may be questionable, but there is reason behind them. This was not the first ethically difficult decision I've made, and I sincerely doubt it will be the last."

"But Zordon..."

"Zordon's methods were different." Gosei agreed. "But perhaps that is why he is gone, and this burden is now mine to bear."

With that, the eyes faded, indicating that Gosei was not listening any longer. Tensou had to ponder the fact that perhaps it was a good thing he didn't have emotions.


	10. Some Support

The next day at school, Gia and Emma arrived at the gate together. Gia had only agreed to go because Emma had promised she would go with her, and make sure she wasn't left alone. Gia just stopped as she got to the gates, thinking about what awaited her. It had now been three days since she had been outed. She now knew that everyone else knew, and had no doubt they'd have had plenty of time to figure out all the barbs they wanted to throw at her once they saw her..

"Look, if you want to..."

"Let people think what they want." Emma said with a smile, pre-empting the fact Gia was about to use her as an excuse. Another factor in the whole ordeal was the fact that now a lot of people mistakenly believed that Emma was actually her partner. It was one of the reasons that Gia took the whole business to heart so much. It was hard for her, but even harder for Emma, who hadn't had the luxury of five years of knowing the truth. As they went inside, they made their way to their lockers.

Gia was very self-conscious, but was trying to take care not to stick too close to Emma, just in case people got the wrong idea. One of the reasons for her embarrassment and self-imposed exile was the fact that she knew Emma was straight, and as such would never return her feelings. Of course, thinking about it, that didn't mean other people wouldn't think she was, given some of the things she'd written. Thinking about it now, her journal was mostly about her feelings and wishes, and wasn't very specific with facts...like the fact that as much as she'd wished otherwise, she and Emma were nothing more than friends.

As they got to their lockers, a guy was standing there waiting on them. He had blonde, spiky hair, and a slightly crooked smile. Behind him was a monster of a guy, who was a lot taller than them, and significantly heavier. He had dark hair, and laughed in kind of a brainless guffaw.

"Well, if it isn't the resident lesbo." The blonde guy stated, causing Gia to glare at him. She already knew people would talk, and have a lot to say when she got back, presuming she did at all, but this was a little direct. "You know, I think all you really need is a real man to..."

"To straighten me out?" Gia demanded, pushing Emma back. She knew Emma would defend her, but a part of her brain told her that this was the time to make a stand. If she tried to hide, if she acted like she was wrong to be what she was, then people would always see it that way. Knowing Emma was close emboldened her despite the fact her heart was jumping into her throat, but she had listened to her bang on about enough protests to now that there was a time when not standing up just made it seem like a person's beliefs were worthless. It would give power to all the people who had likely spent the last few days spreading every filthy slur and joke about her they could think of. She stepped forward. "Trust me, even if I was straight, you and brain-trust here would make me reconsider."

The two just looked at each other as a crowd started to form up around them. Gia was now certain that this was the time. She threw down her bag.

"Go ahead and stare, because I'm going to be here for a while yet! I'm in junior year, so I'm here for another year and a half!" She snapped at them. "Yes, I'm gay, that's just who I am! Now, if that's something you feel the need to say something about, and then have the guts to say it to my face!"

The rest of the students all started to disperse. Gia turned back into the lockers, breathing heavily, but hiding it from the others. Her bravery had cost her. She had been running on adrenaline, preparing for a fight, which meant when the danger subsided, she was now exhausted. Emma looked at her completely impressed, but could see Gia trembling. It had taken all of her strength, but she had made her stand.

"Wow...that...that was pretty amazing!" Emma complimented her.

"Yeah, I don't really feel that way right now." Gia told her breathlessly as she leaned into her locker, hoping that if she did vomit, something she had a feeling was imminent, then at least it wouldn't be seen. "Would you go on without me? I kind of need a moment."

Emma reluctantly agreed, and left. Gia took a moment to compose herself, but as she was about to leave, she felt someone walk into her. She snapped around, but there were so many others in the area, she couldn't see any culprits. If anything, if this was the worst she could expect, then she counted herself lucky.

It was then she noticed something in her hand. When the culprit had bumped into her, they had slipped a note into her hand. She had a feeling it was something to be discarded, until she noticed that they had taken the effort to put it into an envelope. She opened it, and looked at the note inside.

Later, at lunch, Troy, Noah, Jake and Emma were in the canteen. Although very few students bothered to dine at the school canteen, largely because of the questionable cuisine and close proximity of reasonably priced fast food joints, they were there because Jake was. Although he doubted his dad would know if he left school grounds during the day, he didn't want to take any chances. It was bad enough he was grounded for a fortnight. He already knew how much it would complicate matters when it came to his duties as a Ranger, but as a show of solidarity, they had all agreed to stay with him at the school. The one upside was that there was no difficulty in finding a table that was private enough for them to talk about things they knew others had no business hearing.

"I still can't believe Gosei did that." Jake muttered as he put a spoonful of what he presumed was meant to be stew in his mouth with a grimace of disdain as it assaulted his taste buds.

"He's been set straight." Troy told him bluntly. "He knows we're of one mind on this. If he tries to pull something like that again, we all walk."

"Here here." Noah told them. "And thanks to me, Dean will think twice before opening his I-pad."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Jake said with an impressed grin. "I never knew you were such an evil genius."

"Thank God he's on our side." Emma chuckled. While she wasn't big on revenge, she had a certain area of blissful ignorance when it came to the guy that had single-handedly wrecked Gia's life.

"What can I say, my methods might not be as direct as a few dozen punches to the face, but they're effective." Noah answered, taking on a pose and adopting a deep voice to replicate one of the comic book anti-heroes he loved so much. "Mess with my friends, I will end you!"

Just then, Gia came over, but they all noticed something different about her. For the first time in a while...indeed, ever, she seemed to have a bounce in her step. She looked genuinely happy, like a huge weight had been lifted from her. She sat down, tossing her bag aside, and put her laptop on the table.

"Well, someone's a little more cheerful than the last time we spoke." Emma commented.

"Well, I have a reason." Gia told them, opening her laptop and tapping some keys. "Someone slipped me a note today; it directed me to this site."

She turned her laptop to the others, who all just looked at it.

"The Harwood Flagship?" Noah asked. "I haven't..."

"It's not a site that advertises itself." Gia explained. "It's a site for gay and bisexual students."

"There are...?" Jake stated to say, before Emma elbowed him in the ribs painfully. Gia didn't care about his surprise though, until that morning, she didn't know the site existed either.

"People log on under false names so they can talk about the stuff that's troubling them." Gia told them. "And...It seems I'm kind of a hot topic at the moment."

"Gia Moran, Queen of Harwood Out and Proud." Noah read aloud from one of the banners. "They..."

"There are about 200 students in this school, and about a dozen, maybe more are either gay or bisexual. They're just too scared to come out because of all this crap." Gia explained. "I've already had tons of messages of support because I came back to school after Dean outed me."

"So...you're OK with this?" Troy asked her. She nodded.

"People thought I was a hero, a role-model before, but I never felt like I deserved it." She explained. "Now...I've shown a lot of people who are just as unhappy as I was that it is possible to have a life once they come out."

"So...um...what do they say about me?" Emma asked her. "You know...just out of curiosity."

"A lot of girls admire my taste." Gia informed her. "I've already sent an e-mail to the site moderator asking if they'd mind you linking it to the Social Hub."

"I'd be honoured." Noah said with a smile. "If he...or she...agrees."

"Jake, can I talk to you for a minute?" Gia asked. Jake just let the contents of his fork slide back onto his plate.

"Trust me, you're not taking me from anything I'd miss." He told her. "I'm not even a hundred percent sure it's Kosher."

With that, they both got up and left, leaving the others to check out the Flagship.

As they got outside, Gia turned towards Jake, seeing a sad look on his face. It didn't take a brain surgeon to realise what this discussion was, and he clearly knew what was coming. That pained her all the more.

She had known about Jake's crush for a while, but she didn't do anything about it. She'd kindly turned him away a few times, but she'd never outright said no. He'd never made her position clear.

"Noah...he told me what you did to Dean." Gia started. Jake just sighed.

"I..."

"Please, let me finish." She implored him. "I saw him earlier; you pretty much pounded his face into burger meat."

"He deserved it!" Jake put down abruptly. Gia just approached him, cupping his cheek with her hand.

"Don't get yourself into trouble because of me." She told him. "The way you went after him, it isn't just a crush is it?"

Jake was breathless. He knew Gia was dimly aware of his existence, and he had worshipped her for a long time. He finally nodded.

"You probably don't remember, but when Noah was a freshman, you stepped in and sent away a couple of guys that were bullying him." Jake explained. "They took one of his books and set fire to it. You sent them all packing. It made an impression on Noah, but it did on me too. I got there too late. Noah's been my best friend since Grade School, and when I wasn't there, you had his back."

"I...I remember that." Gia admitted. "I saw some kids burning a book...that was Noah?"

"He doesn't talk much about his past." Jake informed her. "Since then, I've always looked up to you, I've always tried to be good enough for you, so that this year, when I was part of a championship wining soccer team, maybe you'd see me as worthy."

"Jake, I know what you're feeling. I feel the same way." Gia told him. "It really sucks when you're totally into someone that you know for a fact will never feel the same way about you the way you do about them."

"Yeah, it kind of does." He agreed. Gia just smiled.

"If it's worth anything, if things were different, you are the best guy I've known. Maybe it would have worked." She suggested. "I'm really sorry it didn't work out that way."

"I am too." Jake admitted. "So...what does that mean for us?"

"Well, for my part, if a guy's willing to risk a lawsuit to punish someone that hurt me, that's the kind of guy I want having my back." She told him, holding up a hand. "Land Brothers?"

"Land Brothers." He told her, clasping hands with her. He was disappointed to know that his feelings would always be unrequited, but in a way he was happy. He knew it wasn't anything personal. He knew it was nothing he could change that meant Gia would never return his feelings. All things considered, it was the next best thing to having her accept his offer of love.

"So...I'm probably going to get a lot of shit in the near future." Gia told him. "Can you promise me you aren't going to get yourself expelled or arrested or something?"

"I'll try." Jake told her. "I'll try."

With that, they went back inside, Jake wrapping his arm around Gia. For once, she didn't mind.

FIN!


End file.
